ROMANTIC  DAYS 

IN  THE 

EARLY  REPUBLIC 


MARY  CAROLINE  CRAWFORD 


e  Old  Corner  Book 

Store,  Inc. 
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ROMANTIC   DAYS 
IN   THE   EARLY   REPUBLIC 


BOOKS   BY 

MARY  CAROLINE  CRAWFORD 


OLD  BOSTON   DAYS  AND  WAYS 


ROMANTIC  DAYS  IN  OLD  BOSTON 


MRS.    BENEDICT    ARNOLD    AND    HER    ELDEST    SON. 

From  the  painting  by  Sir  Thomas  Lawrence  now  in  the  possession  of  the  Historical 
Society  of  Pennsylvania. 


ROMANTIC  DAYS 

IN  THE 

EARLY  REPUBLIC 


BY 

MARY    CAROLINE    CRAWFORD 

AUTHOR  OF  "  OLD  BOSTON  DAYS  AND  WAYS," 
"GOETHE  AND  HIS  WOMAN  FRIENDS,"  ETC. 


With  Numerous  Illustrations 


BOSTON 
LITTLE,  BROWN,  AND    COMPANY 

1912 
Jf 


Copyright, 
BY  LITTLE,  BROWN,  AND  COMPANY. 

All  rights  reserved 


Published,  October,  1912 


THE  COLONIAL  PRESS 
C.  H.  SIMONDS  &  CO.,  BOSTON,  U.  8.  A. 


3f  gnu  are  fott&  of  mmattr*  reafc 


FOREWORD 

ALL  the  visitors  to  America,  during  and  just 
after  the  Revolution,  wrote  with  enthusiasm, 
upon  their  return  home,  of  the  hospitality  which 
they  here  enjoyed  and  of  the  beautiful  women 
who  administered  it.  Boston,  New  York, 
Philadelphia  and  the  Southern  cities  each  cher- 
ishes fondly  —  so  far  as  its  own  traditions  go  — 
the  memory  of  that  gracious  era  and  of  those 
identified  with  it.  But  how  little  Bostonians 
know  of  early  New  York,  how  dense  is  the  ig- 
norance of  Philadelphians  concerning  the  tradi- 
tions of  New  Orleans!  Yet  would  it  not  add 
materially  to  our  rich  heritage  as  Americans, 
if  the  local  history  and  noble  heroes  of  other 
cities  than  our  own  evoked  our  keen  enthusiasm? 

The  author,  however,  who  sets  out,  in  a  single 
book,  to  promote  this  admirable  end  is  con- 
fronted at  once  with  a  very  great  difficulty; 
that  of  selection.  For  no  Philadelphian  wants 
to  read  details  about  early  Baltimore  —  how- 
ever admirable  he  might  find  in  any  book  ex- 
haustive treatment  of  his  own  dear  city.  Hap- 
pily, each  of  the  cities  here  studied  has  been 
found  to  possess  some  story  or  some  institution 


viii  FOREWORD 

of  its  own  which  might  well  become  a  part  of 
common  knowledge  in  this  young  and  lusty  land 
of  ours.  America  can  use  more  heroes,  too, 
than  we  are  wont  to  think.  Jefferson  and  Andrew 
Jackson  should  not  be  mere  names  in  this  year 
of  Progressivism ;  Abigail  Adams  and  Theodosia 
Burr  ought  to  be  the  fond  familiar  friends  of 
awakening  American  womanhood. 

Of  course,  the  diaries,  histories,  reminiscences 
and  letters  consulted  in  the  preparation  of  a 
book  of  this  kind  bulk  very  large;  so  large  that 
their  mere  enumeration  would  cover  many 
pages.  For  the  most  part,  therefore,  acknowl- 
edgments have  been  made  in  the  body  of  the 
book.  But  I  wish  to  mention  here  my  gratitude 
to  the  Houghton  Mifflin  Company  for  various 
quotations'  from  works  which  they  control;  to 
Charles  Scribner's  Sons;  publishers  of  Margaret 
Bayard  Smith's  First  Forty  Years  of  Washing- 
ton  Society;  to  Harper  and  Brothers  for  their 
courtesy  in  permitting  the  use  of  some  anec- 
dotes first  printed  in  their  publications;  to 
the  Century  Company  for  similar  courtesies, 
and  to  G.  P.  Putnam's  Sons  for  several  cita- 
tions from  their  edition  of  Washington  Irving's 
works. 

To  individuals  who  have  aided  me  by  their 
counsel  and  by  the  loan  of  family  or  much- 
cherished  portraits;  to  writers  who  have  given 
me  the  benefit  of  their  ripe  wisdom  and  scholarly 


FOREWORD  ix 

research;  to  librarians  who  have  gladly  lent 
time  and  interest  my  warm  gratitude  is  also 
given.  One  of  the  great  joys  which  comes  to  an 
author  in  the  preparation  of  a  work  of  this  kind 
is  the  discovery  that  America,  even  today,  has 
something  of  the  spirit  of  that  Cooperative 
Commonwealth  towards  which  the  Reformer 
yearns  —  lingering  remnants,  very  likely,  of 
the  team-play  brotherliness  which  made  possible 
the  early  Republic. 

M.   C.   C. 
BOSTON,  MASSACHUSETTS,  1912. 


CONTENTS 

CHAPTER  PAGE 

FOREWORD vii 

I.     PHILADELPHIA 1 

II.     NEW  YORK 73 

III.  WASHINGTON 156 

IV.  BALTIMORE 243 

V.     CHARLESTON 291 

VI.    RICHMOND   AND   SOME   FAMOUS  VIRGINIAN 

HOMES 338 

VII.    NEW  ORLEANS 379 

VIII.    BOSTON  AND  SOME  OTHER  CITIES  OF  NEW 

ENGLAND 397 

INDEX  433 


LIST  OF  ILLUSTRATIONS 

MBS.  BENEDICT  ARNOLD  AND  HER  ELDEST  SON      Frontispiece 

From  the  painting  by  Sir  Thomas  Lawrence  now  in  the  possession  of 
the  Historical  Society  of  Pennsylvania. 

FACING   PAGE 

MAJOR  ANDRE"  20 

From  a  painting  by  himself. 

SECOND  STREET,  PHILADELPHIA,  ABOUT  1800     ...       21 

CONGRESS  HALL  AND  CHESTNUT  STREET  THEATRE,  PHILA- 
DELPHIA, ABOUT  1800 21 

MRS.  MAJOR  WILLIAM  JACKSON 44 

From  the  portrait  by  Gilbert  Stuart  now  in  the  possession  of  the  Penn- 
sylvania Academy  of  Fine  Arts. 

THIRD  STREET,  PHILADELPHIA,  ABOUT  1800  ...  45 
HIGH  STREET,  PHILADELPHIA,  ABOUT  1800  ...  45 
Miss  SALLY  MCKEAN 52 

Who  became  the  Marchioness  de  Casa  Yrujo.  From  the  painting  by 
Gilbert  Stuart  in  the  possession  of  Mrs.  Thomas  McKean  of 
Philadelphia. 

MRS.  WALTER  STEWART 52 

From  the  painting  by  Charles  Wilson  Peale. 

SARAH  FRANKLIN  BACHE 53 

DR.  CASPAR  WISTAR 53 

FRAUNCES'  TAVERN  IN  1867 74 

THE  ATHENAEUM  WASHINGTON  OF  STUART       ...  75 

From  the  original  in  the  Boston  Museum  of  Fine  Arts. 

MARTHA  WASHINGTON,  FROM  THE  PORTRAIT    BY    JAMES 
SAVAGE 86 

From  the  portrait  by  James  Savage  in  the  possession  of  Brooks  Adams, 
Quincy,  Massachusetts. 

HOUSES  OPPOSITE  BOWLING  GREEN  ON  BROADWAY       ' .      87 

MACOMB    HOUSE,    WASHINGTON'S   SECOND    NEW   YORK 
RESIDENCE .     .  ,       .       .      87 

THE  MERCHANTS'  EXCHANGE,  NEW  YORK,  ABOUT  1830       92 

From  a  drawing  by  C.  Burton. 

MRS.  CHAUNCEY  GOODRICH 93 

From  a  miniature  in  the  possession  of  Charles  A .  Brinley  of  Phila- 
delphia. 


xiv      LIST    OF    ILLUSTRATIONS 

PACIMO   PAGE 

MRS.  JOHN  JAY 98 

From  the  painting  by  Daniel  Huntington,  enlarged  from  a  miniature 
in  a  bracelet. 

CITY  HALL  AND  ITS  PARK,  NEW  YORK,  ABOUT  1835      .       99 

From  an  old  print. 

OLD  ST.  PAUL'S,  NEW  YORK 110 

AARON  BURR .       .       .111 

From  a  painting  attributed  to  Gilbert  Stuart  in  the  possession  of 
Princeton  University. 

THE  WEST  FRONT  OF  TRINITY  CHURCH,  NEW  YORK     .     120 

From  an  old  print. 

THOMAS  PAINE  IN  1792  . 121 

PARK  THEATRE,  NEW  YORK 130 

From  a  drawing  by  C.  Burton. 

JOHN  JACOB  ASTOR 131 

From  the  portrait  by  Gilbert  Stuart. 

WILLIAM  CULLEN  BRYANT  IN  1825 148 

After  a  portrait  by  S.  F.  B.  Morse. 

TAMMANY  HALL  IN  1830 149 

From  Valentine's  Manual. 

ALEXANDER  HAMILTON 158 

From  the  portrait  by  Trumbutt  in  the  possession  of  the  Yale  Uni- 
versity School  of  Fine  Arts. 

THOMAS  JEFFERSON.       .       .       i 159 

MRS.  MARTHA  JEFFERSON  RANDOLPH         ....     176 

From  the  portrait  by  Stuart  in  the  possession  of  Mrs.  Algernon  Coo- 
lidge  of  Boston. 

DOLLY  MADISON 177 

From  a  miniature  by  James  Peale  in  the  possession  of  her  great- 
niece,  Miss  Lucia  B.  Cutts  of  Boston. 

JAMES  MADISON 184 

From  the  portrait  by  Gilbert  Stuart  in  the  possession  of  Bowdoin 
College. 

HOME  OF  WASHINGTON  IRVING  AT  SUNNYSIDE  .       .       .     185 
MRS.  JAMES  MONROE 200 

From  the  miniature  painted  by  Senl  in  Paris  in  1794. 

JOHN  QUINCY  ADAMS 201 

From  the  portrait  by  Leslie  in  the  possession  of    Brooks  Adams, 
Quincy,  Massachusetts. 

MRS.  JOHN  QUINCY  ADAMS 210 

From  the  portrait  by  Leslie  in  the  possession  of  Brooks    Adams, 
Quincy,  Massachusetts. 

A  VIEW  OF  THE  CAPITOL  AT  WASHINGTON  DURING  JACK- 
SON'S ADMINISTRATION 211 

From  an  old  print. 


LIST    OF    ILLUSTRATIONS        xv 

FACING    PAGE 

MADAME  JEROME  BONAPARTE 258 

From  the  miniature  by  Augustin,  made  in  Paris  in  1814,  now  »n  the 
possession  of  Edward  Biddle,  of  Philadelphia. 

BALTIMORE  STREET,  BALTIMORE,  IN  STAGE  -  COACH  DAYS    259 

INTERIOR   OF   THE    CATHOLIC   CATHEDRAL,    BALTIMORE, 
ABOUT  1830    ......       .       .  '     .       .282 

From  an  old  print.  . 

THE  BATTLE  MONUMENT,  BALTIMORE,  ABOUT  1835        .    283 

From  an  old  print. 

CHARLESTON,  SOUTH  CAROLINA,  IN  1780  .  .  .  .  292 
CHARLESTON,  SOUTH  CAROLINA,  ABOUT  1830  .  .  .  293 
MR.  AND  MRS.  RALPH  IZARD 312 

From  the  painting  by  Copley  in  the  possession  of  the  Boston  Museum  of 
Fine  Arts. 

THEODOSIA  BURR 313 

From  the  portrait  by  St.  Memin. 

HARMAN  BLENNERHASSETT 326 

From  a  miniature  in  the  possession  of  Dr.  Francis  Coffin  Martin  of 
Boston. 

THE  NAG'S  HEAD  PORTRAIT  OF  THEODOSIA  BURR^   .       .     327 

F-rom  the  original  in  the  possession  of  Mrs.  John  P.  Overman,  Eliza- 
beth City,  North  Carolina. 

ST.  JOHN'S  CHURCH,  RICHMOND 338 

THE  CAPITOL  AT  RICHMOND 339 

From  an  old  print. 

HENRY  CLAY 346 

From  the  portrait  by  S.  F.  B.  Morse  in  the  possession  of  the  Metropoli- 
tan Museum  of  Art,  New  York. 

THE  MONUMENTAL  CHURCH,  RICHMOND     ....     347 

From  an  old  print. 

THE  ALLAN  MANSION,  RICHMOND 354 

In  which  Edgar  Allan  Poe  lived  as  a  lad. 

WASHINGTON'S  TOMB  AT  MOUNT  VERNON  .  .  .  355 
ELEANOR  PARKS  CUSTIS 366 

From  a  painting  by  Gilbert  Stuart  in  the  possession  of  Mrs.  Edwin 
A.  S.  Lewis  of  New  York. 

MOUNT  VERNON        .       .       .       .       .       .       .       .       .  367 

THE  ARCHBISHOPRIC,  OLDEST  HOUSE  IN  NEW  ORLEANS  .  380 

JACKSON  SQUARE,  NEW  ORLEANS        .       .       .''..-     .  381 

THE  OLD  FRENCH  MARKET,  NEW  ORLEANS      .       .       .  392 

ANDREW  JACKSON 393 

From  the  portrait  by  Sully  in  the  possession  of  the  Corcoran  Art  Gal- 
lery,  Washington. 

PARLOR  OF  THE  DOROTHY  Q.  HOUSE,  QUINCY,  MASS.      .     404 


xvi      LIST    OF    ILLUSTRATIONS 

FACING   PAGE 

GOVERNOR  LANGDON  HOUSE,  PORTSMOUTH,  N.  H.  .       .  405 
GUEST  CHAMBER  OF  THE  LONGFELLOW  HOUSE,   PORT- 
LAND, ME.      .       .       .      -, '   •-.  .    .      '..-..       .       .  412 
KITCHEN  OF  THE  LONGFELLOW  HOUSE,  PORTLAND,   ME.  413 
MRS.  R.  C.  DERBY 416 

From  the  miniature  by  Malbone  in    the  possession  of  the  Metro- 
politan Museum  of  Art,    New   York. 

MRS.  EDWARD  BLAKE     . 417 

From  the  miniature  by  Malbone  in  the  possession  of  Miss  Julia 
Robins,  Boston. 

BOSTON  COMMON  AND  THE  STATE  HOUSE,  1830       .       .     424 

From  the  painting  by  George  Harvey  in  the  possession  of  the  Bos- 
tonian  Society. 

DANIEL  WEBSTER 425 

From  the  portrait  by  Stuart  in  the  possession  of  George  Fred  Williams, 
Dedharn,  Massachusetts 


CHAPTER  I 

PHILADELPHIA 


is  the  finest  town,  the 
best  built  and  the  most  wealthy  in  the 
United  States,"  stoutly  maintained  Bris- 
sot  de  Warville  (1788)  in  his  naive  volume  of 
Travels.  The  time  to  which  our  author  refers 
is,  of  course,  that  of  the  early  Republic;  but 
inasmuch  as  a  good  deal  of  Philadelphia's  social 
prestige  had  been  carried  over  from  the  days  of 
the  British  Occupation,  —  days  in  which  Major 
Andre  and  Peggy  Shippen  together  participated 
in  the  Mischianza  of  illustrious  memory,  — 
it  seems  worth  while  to  tell  briefly  the  story  of 
that  brilliant  affair  and  to  restate  clearly  the 
known  facts  concerning  Mrs.  Arnold's  relation 
to  the  clever  young  British  officer. 

Peggy  Shippen  Arnold  certainly  realized  to 
the    full    the    delectable    desire    expressed    by 


2  ROMANTIC   DAYS 

Ibsen's  neurotic  Hedda,  when  she  exclaimed, 
"  Oh,  that  I  might  have  my  fingers  in  the  des- 
tiny of  a  man!  "  History,  to  be  sure,  pretty 
unanimously  acquits  Andre's  cotillion  partner 
of  any  wicked  complicity  in  what  afterwards 
happened.  Nor  is  there  the  least  evidence  that 
what  Andre  felt  for  pretty  Peggy  was  more  than 
the  pleasure  any  gallant  young  man  takes  in  the 
witty  companionship  of  a  dainty  maiden  who  is 
sufficiently  his  junior.  At  the  time  of  the  Mis- 
chianza,  indeed,  Andre's  heart  had  not  really 
recovered  from  the  blow  dealt  him  by  Honora 
Sneyd  when  she  chose  to  become  the  second  wife 
of  Richard  Lovell  Edgeworth  (and  the  step- 
mother of  Maria  Edgeworth,  the  novelist)  rather 
than  accept  the  portionless  hand  of  her  hand- 
some young  adorer.  There  are  extant  some 
letters  written  by  young  Andre  to  a  girl  who  was 
the  friend  both  of  Honora  and  of  himself,  in 
which  there  are  frequent  references  to  the 
scantiness  of  his  family  fortunes  and  to  the 
bearing  of  this  fact  on  his  prospects  of  future 
happiness. 

Almost  the  only  tangible  evidence  that  there 
ever  had  been  a  fortune  in  the  Andre  family 
rested,  it  would  seem,  on  an  old  coach  drawn  by 
"  two  long  tail  nags."  And  as  frankly  as  he 
confesses  his  poverty  young  Andre  avows  the 
hopelessness  of  his  affection  for  Honora.  In 
one  letter  he  writes,  "  My  zephyrs  are  wafted 


IN   THE    EARLY   REPUBLIC       3 

through  cracks  in  the  wainscott;  for  murmur- 
ing streams  I  have  dirty  kennels;  for  bleating 
flocks  grunting  pigs  —  and  squalling  birds  that 
incessantly  warble! "  Not  a  favorable  spot, 
obviously,  for  the  cultivation  of  the  muse.  No 
wonder  he  soon  came  to  feel  that,  as  a  change, 
he  could  even  enter  trade.  On  November  1, 
1769,  he  wrote,  "  I  have  now  completely  sub- 
dued my  aversion  to  the  profession  of  a  mer- 
chant, and  hope  in  time  to  acquire  an  inclina- 
tion for  it.  Yet,  God  forbid  I  should  ever  love 
what  I  am  to  make  the  object  of  my  attention, 
that  vile  trash  which  I  care  not  for  but  only  as 
it  may  be  a  future  means  of  procuring  the  bless- 
ing of  my  soul.  Thus  all  my  mercantile  calcu- 
lations go  to  the  tune  of  dear  Honora.  When  an 
impertinent  consciousness  whispers  in  my  ear 
that  I  am  not  of  the  right  stuff  for  a  merchant 
I  draw  my  Honora's  picture  from  my  bosom 
and  the  sight  of  that  dear  Talisman  so  inspirits 
my  industry  that  no  toil  appears  oppressive." 
It  was  this  same  picture  of  Honora,  painted 
by  himself,  and  preserved  in  a  locket,  that  Andre 
saved  from  his  captors  (by  hiding  it  in  his 
mouth)  when,  having  surrendered  to  Mont- 
gomery (at  St.  John's  in  1775),  he  with  the 
other  prisoners  of  war  was  commanded  to  strip 
for  examination.  Yet  Honora  had  then  for  two 
years  been  the  wife  of  the  fascinating  Edge- 
worth  —  and  it  had  probably  been  in  the  hope 


4  .ROMANTIC   DAYS 

of  drowning  in  an  adventurous  career  in  America 
the  sorrow  of  her  loss  that  Andre  joined  the 
British  army  over  here.  Following  his  capture 
by  Montgomery,  he  was  conveyed  to  Lancaster, 
Pennsylvania,  where  for  four  months  he  was 
confined  as  a  prisoner  in  the  house  of  Caleb  Cope. 
Then  he  was  transferred  to  Carlisle  and,  after 
that,  was  in  short  order  exchanged  and  made  a 
member  of  Sir  Henry  Clinton's  military  family, 
with  promotion  from  his  rank  as  captain  to  that 
of  major. 

It  was,  however,  Andre's  social  gifts  rather 
than  any  military  skill  he  may  have  possessed 
which  made  him  a  favorite  in  Philadelphia. 
He  was  graceful  and  handsome,  could  draw, 
paint,  and  write  poetry,  —  and  he  had  charming 
manners.  He  seemed,  indeed,  particularly  en- 
dowed to  plan  and  carry  through  the  famous 
social  function  which  Howe's  officers  designed 
to  mark  their  chief's  departure  from  the  Quaker 
City  and  to  rebuke  his  recall  to  England.  In 
an  elaborate  letter,  written  to  a  friend  in  Lon- 
don and  published  several  years  after  Andre's 
death,  we  see  reflected  the  young  man's  delight 
in  this  extraordinary  f£te  which  has  ever  since 
been  regarded  as  the  high-water  mark  in  Phila- 
delphia's social  history.1 

As  the  title  of  the  fete  implies,  several  differ- 
ent kinds  of  entertainment  were  included  in  this 

t    1  In  the  Gentleman's  Magazine  for  August,  1788. 


IN    THE    EARLY    REPUBLIC       5 

splendid  celebration  of  May  18,  1778.  The 
initial  feature  was  a  grand  regatta  in  three  divis- 
ions. First  came  the  Ferret  galley,  on  board  of 
which  were  several  general  officers  and  ladies; 
then  the  Hussar  galley,  bearing  Sir  William  and 
Lord  Howe,  Sir  Henry  Clinton,  their  suite  and 
many  ladies,  while  the  Cornwallis  galley,  with 
General  Knyphausen  and  suite,  three  British 
generals  and  several  more  fair  ladies  brought  up 
in  the  rear.  In  front  of  each  galley  went  three 
flatboats  with  bands  of  music;  five  flatboats, 
lined  with  green  cloth  and  filled  with  ladies  and 
gentlemen  attended  each  side  of  the  large  ships, 
and  these  were  in  turn  attended  by  several 
barges  to  keep  off  the  swarm  of  boats  in  the  river. 
Colors  and  streamers  floated  gaily  from  the 
participating  ships,  while  all  the  vessels  lying  at 
anchor  near  by  were  also  magnificently  deco- 
rated. 

The  rendezvous  for  this  interesting  regatta- 
pageant  was  at  Knight's  Wharf,  at  the  northern 
extremity  of  the  city.  At  half -past  four  the 
company  embarked,  floating  slowly  down  the 
river  to  the  strains  of  appropriate  music  until 
they  arrived  opposite  Market  Wharf,  where  all 
rested  their  oars  and,  in  obedience  to  a  pre- 
viously arranged  signal,  "  God  Save  the  King  " 
was  sung  and  cheered  by  all  hands  to  the  echo. 
The  landing  was  at  the  Old  Fort,  a  little  south 
of  the  town,  and  thence,  after  a  due  ritual  of 


6  ROMANTIC   DAYS 

salutes,  the  company  from  the  boats  proceeded 
to  Walnut  Grove,  the  mansion  of  Joseph  Whar- 
ton,  through  an  avenue  formed  by  two  files  of 
grenadiers,  each  supported  by  a  line  of  light 
horse,  to  the  building  prepared  for  the  next 
feature.  Here  was  "  discovered  "  a  spacious 
lawn  lined  with  troops  and  prepared  for  the  ex- 
hibition of  a  tilt  and  tournament.  Two  pavilions 
had  been  provided  for  the  ladies,  with  seats 
rising  one  above  the  other,  the  places  of 
honor  on  the  front  seats  having  been  allotted  to  a 
group  of  maidens  dressed  as  Turkish  princesses 
and  wearing  in  their  turbans  the  favors  for  which 
the  gallant  knights  were  presently  to  contend. 

A  blare  of  trumpets  sounded  in  the  distance. 
And  now  a  band  of  knights  in  ancient  habits 
of  white  and  red  silk,  mounted  on  gray  horses 
caparisoned  in  the  same  colors  and  attended  by 
squires  on  foot,  by  heralds  and  by  trumpeters, 
entered  the  lists.  Lord  Cathcart  was  chief  of 
these  knights  and  appeared  in  honor  of  Miss 
Auchmuty.  One  squire  bore  his  lance,  another 
his  shield,  and  two  coal-black  slaves,  dressed  in 
blue  and  white  silk  with  silver  clasps  on  their 
bare  necks  and  arms,  held  his  stirrups.  After 
making  a  circuit  of  the  square  and  saluting  the 
ladies,  the  members  of  his  band  ranged  them- 
selves in  line  with  the  pavilion  graced  by  the 
ladies  of  their  device.  Then  the  herald,  after  a 
flourish  of  trumpets,  proclaimed  a  challenge 


IN    THE    EARLY    REPUBLIC       7 

and  asserted  the  superiority  in  wit,  beauty,  and 
accomplishment  of  the  ladies  of  the  Blended 
Rose,  whose  claims  would  now  be  defended  ac- 
cording to  the  ancient  laws  of  chivalry. 

Thrice  was  the  challenge  repeated  ere  another 
herald  and  trumpeters,  advancing  from  the 
opposite  side  of  the  square,  proclaimed  defiance 
in  the  name  of  the  knights  of  the  Burning  Moun- 
tain. Black  and  orange  were  the  colors  of  these 
servitors,  while  their  chief,  Captain  Watson,  ap- 
pearing in  honor  of  Miss  Franks,  bore  for  his 
device  a  heart  with  a  wreath  of  roses,  and  for 
his  motto  —  Love  and  Glory.  This  band  also 
rode  round  the  lists  and  drew  up  in  front  of  the 
White  Knights.  Then  the  gauntlet  was  thrown 
down,  lifted  —  and  the  encounter  was  on!  For 
some  minutes  all  fought,  and  then  the  two  chiefs, 
spurring  to  the  center,  engaged  in  a  single  com- 
bat which  grew  more  and  more  fierce  until  the 
marshal  of  the  field,  rushing  between  them,  de- 
clared that  the  ladies  both  of  the  Blended  Rose 
and  of  the  Burning  Mountain  were  satisfied  with 
the  proofs  of  love  and  valor  already  given  and 
commanded  their  knights  to  desist.  The  bands 
filed  off  in  different  directions,  bowing  low,  as 
they  passed  the  pavilion,  to  the  beautiful  ladies 
there  ensconced. 

The  whole  company  then  marched  in  proces- 
sion, through  triumphal  arches  built  in  the 
Tuscan  order,  to  a  garden  on  the  other  side,  and 


8  ROMANTIC   DAYS 

ascended  to  a  spacious  hall  painted  in  imitation 
of  Siena  marble.  Here  were  tea  and  other  re- 
freshments. And  now  the  valiant  knights,  kneel- 
ing down,  received  from  the  fair  fingers  of  their 
chosen  ones  the  favors  which  they  had  won  in 
the  tournament.  In  the  ballroom,  where  dan- 
cing continued  until  ten  o'clock,  were  eighty -five 
mirrors  reflecting  the  light  from  thirty-four 
branches  fitted  with  wax  candles;  and  to  lend 
further  brilliance  to  the  scene  there  was  soon  a 
magnificent  display  of  fireworks. 

Supper,  however,  was  the  crowning  glory  of 
the  day.  This  was  served  at  the  stroke  of  mid- 
night, when  large  folding  doors,  which  had 
hitherto  been  concealed,  were  suddenly  thrown 
open,  revealing  a  splendid  and  spacious  hall 
richly  painted  and  brilliantly  illuminated,  the 
central  feature  of  which  was  a  table  set  out, 
according  to  Major  Andre's  account,  with  four 
hundred  and  thirty  covers  and  twelve  hundred 
dishes !  At  the  close  of  the  feast  the  herald  and 
trumpeters  of  the  Blended  Rose  entered  the 
room,  and  proclaimed,  first,  the  health  of  the 
king  and  royal  family,  then  the  health  of  the 
knights  and  their  ladies.  Each  toast  was  ac- 
companied by  a  flourish  of  music  in  good  old 
medieval  style.  After  which  the  company  re- 
turned to  the  ballroom  and  dancing  continued 
till  four  o'clock.  Very  weary  the  Mischianza 
belles  must  have  been  when  they  finally  reached 


IN  THE  EARLY  REPUBLIC  9 

home.  For  this  entertainment  had  made  a 
record  for  length  as  well  as  for  elegance ! 

The  next  day  the  mirrors  and  lusters  borrowed 
from  Philadelphia's  leading  citizens  were  quietly 
returned,  and  very  shortly  Sir  William  Howe 
took  his  departure.  But  the  pageant  given  in 
the  English  general's  honor  caused  tongues  to 
wag  for  many  a  month  in  England  as  well  as 
in  the  camps  of  the  American  army.  Naturally 
the  patriot  generals,  who  had  been  enduring 
bitter  privations  in  the  cause  of  independence, 
were  most  cutting  in  their  comments  on  the 
extravagance  of  the  celebration,  and  one  cer- 
tainly sympathizes  with  the  feeling  which,  on 
July  12,  prompted  General  Wayne  to  write, 
"  Tell  those  Philadelphia  ladies  who  attended 
Howe's  assemblies  and  levees  that  the  heavenly, 
sweet,  pretty,  redcoats  —  the  accomplished  gen- 
tlemen of  the  guards  and  grenadiers,  have  been 
humbled  on  the  plains  of  Monmouth.  The 
knights  of  the  Blended  Roses  and  of  the  Burn- 
ing Mount  have  resigned  their  laurels  to  rebel 
officers,  who  will  lay  them  at  the  feet  of  those 
virtuous  daughters  of  America  who  cheerfully 
gave  up  ease  and  affluence  in  a  city  for  liberty 
and  peace  of  mind  in  a  cottage." 

Though  all  the  loyalist  maidens  of  Philadel- 
phia—  the  Chews,  the  Whites,  the  Craigs,  the 
Redmans  and  the  Burds  —  had  a  share  in  the 
festivities  of  that  glorious  day,  the  most  promi- 


10  ROMANTIC   DAYS 

nent  girl  in  the  fete  was  the  beautiful  Miss 
Margaret  Shippen,  who  was  soon  to  become  the 
wife  of  Benedict  Arnold.  Arnold  had  begun 
life  as  a  druggist  in  New  Haven,  Connecticut, 
not  far  from  Norwich,  the  town  of  his  birth, 
and  there  had  married  an  estimable  woman  who 
died  about  the  time  the  war  began.  Though  of 
a  reckless  and  adventurous  nature,  the  traitor 
seems  to  have  been  tenderly  devoted  to  this 
wife,  and  it  was  perhaps  the  sorrow  of  her  loss 
which  first  turned  him  definitely  towards  the 
crooked  ways  which  were  to  prove  his  undoing. 
Sparks  argues  from  the  constant  affection  felt 
for  the  man  by  his  gentle  sister,  Hannah  Arnold, 
that  there  existed  in  his  domestic  character 
better  traits  than  could  be  inferred  from  his 
public  conduct.  Other  writers,  pressing  further 
this  same  line  of  reasoning,  find  in  a  fond  hus- 
band's desire  to  indulge  the  extravagance  of  a 
charming  young  wife  the  explanation  of  Arnold's 
treachery.  This,  however,  seems  to  me  to  be 
working  too  hard  the  injunction,  "  Cherchez  la 
femme!  "  Arnold  was  a  spendthrift  before  ever 
he  met  Margaret  Shippen. 

But  it  was  perhaps  unfortunate  that  a  man  of 
his  weak  will  and  impressionable  nature  should 
have  been  put  in  command  at  Philadelphia  in 
the  wake  of  the  Mischianza  and  at  a  time  when 
only  the  utmost  integrity  and  the  finest  tact 
could  have  enabled  any  commander  to  give  en- 


IN    THE    EARLY    REPUBLIC      11 

tire  satisfaction.  Stories  began  very  early  to 
be  whispered  about  to  his  discredit.  One  set  of 
people  said  that  it  was  nothing  short  of  a  scandal, 
in  view  of  the  distressed  condition  of  the  country, 
for  Arnold  to  be  living  as  he  was  and  to  be  court- 
ing the  favor  of  Tories.  Another  set  charged 
him  with  extortion  and  with  commercial  specu- 
lations of  doubtful  repute. 

The  note  of  extravagance  and  display,  which 
had  been  struck  in  Philadelphia  before  Howe's 
departure,  was  not  suffered  to  die  away  under 
Arnold.  He  soon  established  himself  at  Mount 
Pleasant,  once  characterized  by  John  Adams  as 
"  the  most  magnificent  seat  in  Pennsylvania," 
furnished  it  expensively,  drove  a  coach  and  four, 
and  gave  splendid  entertainments,  to  which  were 
always  invited  the  friends  of  the  lovely  Miss 
Shippen.  He  had  fallen  in  love  with  the  Tory 
belle  at  first  sight  and,  within  three  months,  was 
declaring  his  passion  thus  eloquently: 

"  DEAR  MADAM  :  Twenty  times  have  I  taken 
up  my  pen  to  write  to  you  and  as  often  has  my 
trembling  hand  refused  to  obey  the  dictates  of 
my  heart  —  a  heart  which,  though  calm  and 
serene  amid  the  clashing  of  arms  and  all  the  din 
and  horrors  of  war,  trembles  with  diffidence  and 
the  fear  of  giving  offence  when  it  attempts  to 
address  you  on  a  subject  so  important  to  its 
happiness.  Dear  madam,  your  charms  have 


12  ROMANTIC   DAYS 

lighted  up  a  flame  in  my  bosom  which  can  never 
be  extinguished;  your  heavenly  image  is  too 
deeply  impressed  ever  to  be  effaced.  My  pas- 
sion is  not  founded  on  personal  charms  only: 
that  sweetness  of  disposition  and  goodness  of 
heart  —  that  sentiment  and  sensibility  which 
so  strongly  mark  the  character  of  the  lovely 
Miss  P.  Shippen  —  render  her  amiable  beyond 
expression,  and  will  ever  retain  the  heart  she 
has  once  captivated. 

"  On  you  alone  my  happiness  depends.  And 
will  you  doom  me  to  languish  in  despair?  Shall 
I  expect  no  return  to  the  most  sincere,  ardent 
and  disinterested  passion?  Do  you  feel  no  pity 
in  your  gentle  bosom  for  the  man  who  would 
die  to  make  you  happy?  May  I  presume  to  hope 
it  is  not  impossible  I  may  make  a  favourable 
impression  on  your  heart?  Friendship  and  es- 
teem you  acknowledge.  Dear  Peggy!  suffer 
that  heavenly  bosom  (which  cannot  know  itself 
the  cause  of  pain  without  a  sympathetic  pang) 
to  expand  with  a  sensation,  more  soft,  more 
tender  than  friendship.  A  union  of  hearts  is 
undoubtedly  necessary  to  happiness.  But  give 
me  leave  to  observe  that  true  and  permanent 
happiness  is  seldom  the  effect  of  an  alliance 
formed  on  a  romantic  passion,  where  fancy  gov- 
erns more  than  judgment.  Friendship  and  es- 
teem, founded  on  the  merit  of  the  object,  is  the 
most  certain  basis  to  found  a  lasting  happiness 


upon.  And  when  there  is  a  tender  and  ardent 
passion  on  one  side,  and  friendship  and  esteem 
on  the  other,  the  heart  (unlike  yours)  must  be 
callous  to  every  tender  sentiment  if  the  taper  of 
love  is  not  lighted  up  at  the  flame. 

"  I  am  sensible  your  prudence  and  the  affec- 
tion you  bear  your  amiable  and  tender  parents 
forbid  your  giving  encouragement  to  the  ad- 
dresses of  anyone  without  their  approbation. 
Pardon  me,  dear  madam,  for  disclosing  a  passion 
I  could  no  longer  confine  in  my  tortured  bosom. 
I  have  presumed  to  write  to  your  papa  and  have 
requested  his  sanction  to  my  addresses.  Suffer 
me  to  hope  for  your  approbation.  Consider  be- 
fore you  doom  me  to  misery  which  I  have  not 
deserved  but  by  loving  you  too  extravagantly. 
Consult  your  own  happiness,  and,  if  incompat- 
ible, forget  there  is  so  unhappy  a  wretch;  for 
may  I  perish  if  I  would  give  you  one  moment's 
inquietude  to  purchase  the  greatest  possible 
felicity  to  myself!  Whatever  my  fate  may  be 
my  most  ardent  wish  is  for  your  happiness,  and 
my  latest  breath  will  be  to  implore  the  blessings 
of  Heaven  on  the  idol  and  only  wish  of  my  soul. 

"  Adieu,  dear  madam,  and  believe  me  unalter- 
ably your  sincere  admirer  and  devoted  humble 
servant, 

"  B.  ARNOLD. 

"  September  25,  1778 
"  Miss  Peggy  Shippen." 


14  ROMANTIC   DAYS 

According  to  some  authorities  the  Shippen 
family  were  most  distressed  that  their  beloved 
Peggy  returned  the  love  of  Arnold.  This,  how- 
ever, "  not  so  much  from  political  feeling  as  from 
distrust  of  the  man,  objection  to  his  origin  and 
dislike  of  his  private  character  so  far  as  it  was 
known.  Arnold  was  not,  in  fact,  a  gentleman. 
His  birth  and  early  education  were  low;  and 
his  peddling  and  smuggling-trade  with  the  is- 
lands, his  traffic  in  cattle  and  horses  could  have 
improved  neither  his  manners  nor  his  morals." 
Yet  there  is  extant  a  letter  written  by  Peggy's 
grandfather,  Edward  Shippen,  Sr.,  which  contains 
quite  a  jovial  allusion  to  the  prospect  of  wel- 
coming soon  as  a  member  of  his  family  "  Gen- 
eral Arnold,  a  fine  gentleman !  "  l 

Perhaps  the  most  astounding  thing  about  this 
whole  alliance  was  the  ease  with  which  Arnold 
acquitted  himself  in  the  matter  of  a  proper  (?) 
marriage  settlement.  Here  his  trickiness  served 
him  in  good  stead.  For  events  proved  that  what 
he  really  settled  upon  the  woman  he  was  to  take 
for  a  bride  was  a  large  mortgage  held  against  the 
estate  of  Mt.  Pleasant.  This  incumbrance,  which 
had  so  reduced  the  amount  of  money  necessary  to 
be  paid  down  for  the  place  as  to  put  it  within 
Arnold's  purchasing  power,  subsequently  cut  out 
altogether  Peggy  Shippen's  interest  in  the  estate. 

1  Thomas  Balch,  in  Letters  and  Papers  Relating  Chiefly  to  the 
Provincial  History  of  Pennsylvania. 


IN    THE    EARLY   REPUBLIC      15 

In  the  matter  of  age,  as  well  as  in  that  of 
family  and  wealth,  there  was  a  striking  disparity 
between  these  two.  Miss  Shippen  was  scarcely 
twenty  years  old  while  Arnold  was  a  widower 
of  thirty -five  with  three  sons.  But  it  was  the 
story  of  Honora  Sneyd  and  Richard  Edgeworth 
over  again.  A  handsome  face,  a  gallant  bear- 
ing and  the  habit  of  success  with  women  quite 
outweighed  the  disadvantage  of  middle  age,  and, 
by  the  spring  of  1779,  Benedict  Arnold,  the 
former  Connecticut  apothecary,  was  the  exult- 
ant husband  of  Margaret  Shippen,  daughter 
of  one  of  Philadelphia's  proudest  families.  Natu- 
rally, he  now  more  than  ever  invited  to  his  house 
the  friends  of  the  Shippen  family.  And  quite 
as  naturally  he  was  now  more  than  ever  criti- 
cized for  his  friendliness  with  Tories.  General 
Reed  wrote  indignantly  to  General  Greene 
that  Arnold  had  actually  given  a  party  at  which 
"  not  only  common  Tory  ladies,  but  the  wives 
and  daughters  of  persons  proscribed  by  the 
State,  and  now  with  the  enemy  at  New  York  " 
were  present  in  considerable  numbers.  Arnold, 
when  confronted  with  this  accusation,  replied 
that  he  had  never  considered  it  the  part  of  a  true 
soldier  to  persecute  in  private  life  the  wives  and 
daughters  of  the  enemy.  But,  of  course,  this 
sophistical  retort  convinced  no  one. 

On  the  woman  he  loved  the  effect  of  the  petty 
persecution  which  now  came  to  be  visited  upon 


16  ROMANTIC   DAYS 

Arnold  was  (as  often  happens)  to  make  her 
cling  more  closely  than  before  to  the  man  her 
heart  had  chosen.  But  it  is  only  a  coincidence, 
I  am  sure,  that  just  at  the  time  that  they  were 
married,  Arnold  first  wrote  to  Sir  Henry  Clin- 
ton in  disguised  handwriting  and  under  the  sig- 
nature of  "  Gustavus,"  describing  himself  as 
an  American  officer  of  high  rank,  who,  through 
disgust  at  the  French  alliance  and  other  pro- 
ceedings of  Congress,  might  perhaps  be  per- 
suaded to  go  over  to  the  British,  provided  he 
could  be  indemnified  for  any  losses  he  might 
incur  by  so  doing.  The  correspondence  thus 
begun  was  kept  up  at  intervals,  Clinton's  replies 
being  penned  by  Major  John  Andre,  his  adju- 
tant-general, over  the  signature  of  "  John  An- 
derson." For  nearly  eighteen  months,  indeed, 
the  letters  continued  under  fictitious  names  but 
with  the  gradual  knowledge  on  the  part  of  both 
principals  as  to  whom  the  other  party  was. 

Andre  and  Mrs.  Arnold,  too,  occasionally 
wrote  to  each  other  now,  and  Arnold  did  not 
scruple,  through  this  means,  to  convey  certain 
messages  to  the  English  side.  But  Mrs.  Arnold 
was,  all  the  while,  quite  innocent  of  wrong,  and 
the  tale  that  she  once  confessed  complicity  in 
the  treacherous  plot  J  is  usually  discredited. 

1  A  letter  from  Major  Andrg  to  Arnold's  wife,  offering  to  secure 
supplies  from  New  York  of  certain  millinery  articles  for  her  use  is 
generally  supposed  to  cover  a  meaning  understood  by  Arnold 
alone. 


IN    THE    EARLY    REPUBLIC      17 

After  his  marriage,  except  when  absent  to 
attend  the  court-martial  in  camp,  Arnold  was 
pretty  constantly  in  Philadelphia  until  the 
middle  of  July,  1780;  and  it  was  there  that  his 
first  child  by  his  second  marriage,  Edward 
Shippen  Arnold,  was  born.  The  family's  re- 
moval to  West  Point  and  Arnold's  hasty  de- 
parture from  that  place,  —  following  his  dis- 
covery of  Andre's  arrest,  —  were  also  events 
of  that  summer  of  1780,  a  very  tragic  summer,  we 
may  believe,  for  the  lovely  girl  who  so  short  a 
time  before  had  married  her  handsome  general, 
full  of  high  hopes  for  the  future.  Some  friends 
of  the  Shippen  family  assert  that  the  young  wife 
would  have  been  glad  to  return  to  her  father's 
home  for  good  upon  the  discovery  of  her  hus- 
band's treachery,  but  if  such  was  her  desire  she 
was  effectually  prevented  from  realizing  it  by 
this  notice,  served  upon  her  within  a  month  after 
she  had  rejoined  her  own  people  in  Philadel- 
phia, following  Arnold's  defection: 

"IN   COUNCIL 

Philadelphia,  Friday,  Oct.  27,  1780. 
"  The  Council,  taking  into  consideration  the 
case  of  Mrs.  Margaret  Arnold  (the  wife  of  Bene- 
dict Arnold,  an  attainted  traitor  with  the  enemy 
at  New  York),  whose  residence  in  this  city  has 
become  dangerous  to  the  public  safety,  and 


18  ROMANTIC   DAYS 

this  Board  being  desirous  as  much  as  possible 
to  prevent  any  correspondence  and  intercourse 
being  carried  on  with  persons  of  disaffected 
character  in  this  State  and  the  enemy  at  New 
York,  and  especially  with  the  said  Benedict 
Arnold;  therefore 

"  RESOLVED,  That  the  said  Margaret  Arnold 
depart  this  State  within  fourteen  days  from  the 
date  hereof,  and  that  she  do  not  return  again 
during  the  continuance  of  the  present  war." 

Nor  could  the  Council  be  induced  to  with- 
draw this  decree  although  considerable  pressure 
was  brought  to  bear  upon  them  to  do  so.  "  It 
makes  me  melancholy  every  time  I  think  of  her 
reunion  to  that  infernal  villain,"  wrote  Major 
Edward  Burd,  who  had  married  Peggy  Shippen's 
sister.  "  The  sacrifice  was  an  immense  one  at 
her  being  married  to  him  at  all.  It  is  much  more 
so  to  be  obliged  against  her  will,  to  go  to  the 
arms  of  a  man  who  appears  to  be  so  very  black." 
Major  Burd  was  probably  here  expressing  his 
own  views  of  Arnold  rather  than  those  of  his 
sister-in-law,  although  Washington  Irving  as- 
serts 1  that  it  was  "  strongly  against  Mrs.  Ar- 
nold's will  that  she  rejoined  her  husband  in 
New  York."  However  this  may  be,  she  bore 
him  four  children  after  she  had  left  Philadel- 
phia, three  sons  who  grew  up  to  be  officers  in 

1  Life  of  George  Washington.    Washington  Irving. 


IN    THE    EARLY    REPUBLIC      19 

the  British  army  and  a  daughter  who  married 
into  the  East  Indian  service.  Edward  Shippen 
Arnold,  who  had  been  born  in  Philadelphia, 
died  in  India  in  1813,  having  won  high  distinc- 
tion in  the  service  of  the  king. 

The  form  in  which  the  people's  indignation 
at  Arnold's  act  expressed  itself  in  Philadel- 
phia was  characteristic  of  the  age.  The  night 
after  the  news  of  his  flight  was  received  a  hollow 
paper  effigy  with  a  light  inside  and  an  inscrip- 
tion in  large  letters  on  the  breast,  was  carried 
through  the  streets  and  then  hung  upon  a  gal- 
lows. On  the  last  day  of  September  (1780)  a 
much  more  striking  manifestation  took  place. 
An  effigy  of  Arnold,  dressed  in  regimentals  but 
having  two  faces,  was  placed  on  a  stage  in  the 
body  of  a  cart  and  drawn  through  the  city  be- 
hind musicians  playing  the  "  Rogue's  March," 
to  a  spot  in  front  of  the  Coffee  House  at 
Front  and  Market  Streets  and  there  burned. 
Towering  over  the  figure  in  the  cart  stood  the 
devil,  with  the  conventional  pitchfork,  holding 
a  bag  of  money  in  his  hand.  In  front  was  a 
transparency  representing  Arnold,  kneeling  to 
the  devil,  who  was  about  to  pull  him  into  the 
flames. 

For  Andre,  however,  who  was  forced  to  pay 
with  his  life  for  the  American's  treachery,  the 
people  as  well  as  the  Continental  officers  appear 
to  have  felt  only  pity.  A  curtain  which  he  had 


20  ROMANTIC   DAYS 

painted  for  the  Southwark  Theatre  at  the  time 
of  the  Occupation  remained  in  use  until  the 
building  was  burned  down  (May  8,  1823),  quite 
proof  enough,  it  seems  to  me,  that  no  spirit  of 
revenge  pursued  the  memory  of  the  young  Eng- 
lishman's stay  in  Philadelphia.  It  had  been  this 
same  Southwark  Theatre,  it  is  interesting  to 
note,  which  before  the  Revolution  was  the  scene 
of  the  first  play  by  an  American  author  ever 
produced  in  this  country.  This  was  on  April 
24,  1767,  the  piece  bearing  the  name  of  The 
Prince  of  Parthia  and  its  author  being  Thomas 
Godfrey,  Jr.  of  Philadelphia. 

In  this  production  of  an  original  American 
play,  and,  indeed,  in  almost  all  of  the  early  the- 
atrical ventures  recorded  in  the  stage  history 
of  Philadelphia,  a  leading  actor  was  Lewis  Hal- 
lam,  whose  English  company  had  made  so  great 
a  success  in  New  York  in  1753  that  they  were 
urged  by  the  more  liberal-minded  Philadelphians 
to  visit  the  Quaker  City  also.  The  matter  was 
not  arranged  without  opposition,  and  a  goodly 
quantity  of  printer's  ink  was  used  in  arguments 
pro  and  con,  but  eventually  this  forward  step 
was  taken  and  on  April  25,  1754,  Philadelphia's 
first  regular  theatrical  season  was  inaugurated. 
The  background  of  the  company's  efforts  at  this 
time  was  a  temporary  theatre  in  a  warehouse 
situated  in  King  or  Water  Street  between  Pine 
and  Lombard  Streets,  but  in  1759  they  came 


MAJOR   ANDRE. 

From  a  painting  by  himself. 


1.  SECOND  STREET,   NORTH  FROM  MARKET   STREET,   ABOUT  1800,    SHOW- 

ING  CHRIST   CHURCH. 

2.  CONGRESS  HALL,  AND  THE  CHESTNUT  STREET  THEATRE,  ABOUT  1800. 


IN    THE    EARLY   REPUBLIC     21 

back  to  occupy  a  permanent  theatre  erected  for 
them  at  the  corner  of  Cedar  and  Vernon  Streets. 
The  opposition  to  play-acting  was  acute  in  some 
quarters  that  year,  however,  and  Mr.  Hallam 
again  went  elsewhere  with  his  artists,  staying 
away  this  time  for  more  than  five  years.  Then 
(November  12,  1776)  he  reopened  in  the  new 
house  (much  larger  than  the  last)  situated  at 
the  corner  of  South  and  Apollo  Streets,  which  so 
long  utilized  Andre's  curtain.  Graydon,1  in  his 
Memoirs,  declares  that  Hallam  "  was  in  Phila- 
delphia as  much  the  soul  of  the  Southwark 
Theatre  as  ever  Garrick  was  of  Drury  Lane; 
and  if,  as  Dr.  Johnson  allows,  popularity  in 
matters  of  taste  is  unquestionable  evidence  of 
merit,  we  cannot  withhold  a  considerable  por- 
tion of  it  from  Mr.  Hallam,  notwithstanding 
his  faults."  (Ranting  was  one  of  these  faults.) 
The  Provincial  Congress  had  come  out  flatly 
in  1774,  however,  with  the  determination  to 
"  discourage  every  species  of  extravagance  and 
dissipation,  especially  horse-racing,  and  all  kinds 
of  gaming,  cock-fighting,  exhibition  of  shows, 
plays  and  other  expensive  diversions  and  enter- 
tainments." It  naturally  had  not  helped  to 
soften  this  prejudice  against  the  theatre  that  the 
British  officers  gave  regular  dramatic  perform- 
ances during  the  Occupation.  Accordingly  when, 

1  Memoirs  of  a  Life  Passed  Chiefly  in  Pennsylvania,  by  Alex- 
ander Graydon. 


22  ROMANTIC   DAYS 

after  the  return  of  the  Continental  Congress,  a 
company  of  actors  (whose  names  are  not  known) 
announced  some  plays,  Congress  promptly  passed 
a  resolution  prohibiting  "  any  person  holding 
an  office  under  the  United  States  "  from  attend- 
ing. Subsequently  the  law  was  made  even  more 
stringent,  and  though.  Lewis  Hallani  tried  hard 
to  have  the  provision  repealed,  during  the  ses- 
sion of  1784-85,  he  was  not  successful  in  this 
effort  and  so  could  do  nothing  better  than  open 
his  theatre,  March  1,  1785,  for  "  miscellaneous 
entertainments  and  singing!  "  Later,  growing 
bolder,  he  added  readings  of  scenes  from  plays. 
Theatrical  history  in  Philadelphia  during  the 
next  few  years  recounts  one  long  succession  of 
ingenious  evasions  of  the  law.1  Finally,  the 
community  put  the  matter  of  repealing  the  law 
to  a  petition-vote  in  the  honest  endeavor  to 
arrive  at  a  true  expression  of  public  opinion  on 
the  matter.  The  result  was  that  the  theatre  was 
again  made  legal  and,  with  the  return  of  Con- 
gress to  the  city,  became  distinctly  fashionable. 
Brilliant  seasons  continued  at  the  Southwark 
until  1794,  when  the  popularity  of  the  older  house 
was  supplanted  by  that  of  the  Chestnut  Street 
Theatre,  brave  in  "  two  rows  of  boxes,  Corin- 
thian columns  and  pale  rose-colour  panels."  A 
member  of  the  Chestnut  Street  company  early 
in  the  new  century  was  the  Elizabeth  Arnold, 

1  Cf.  Old  Boston  Days  and  Ways,  p.  427. 


IN    THE    EARLY    REPUBLIC      23 

who  afterwards  married  David  Poe,  then  a  hand- 
some Southern  law-student,  and  became  the 
mother  of  the  famous  poet.  Another  early  actor 
at  the  Chestnut  Street  was  Spencer  H.  Cone, 
who,  after  several  successful  seasons  as  a  Thes- 
pian, became  successively  an  editor,  a  captain 
of  artillery,  and  a  Baptist  minister.  His  early 
passion  for  the  stage  cropped  out  again  in  his 
granddaughter,  Kate  Claxton.  The  story  of 
the  old  South  Street  or  Southwark  Theatre  was 
not  yet  closed,  however,  for  in  1807  the  first 
French  dramatic  company  that  ever  appeared 
in  Philadelphia  opened  there;  Charles  Durang, 
who  wrote  a  History  of  the  Philadelphia  Stage, 
was  long  the  manager  here;  and  it  was  in  this 
place,  also,  that  Joseph  Jefferson's  mother  made 
her  first  appearance  in  Philadelphia. 

At  the  time  the  Chestnut  Street  welcomed 
its  first  audience  it  was  acknowledged  to  be 
the  finest  theatre  in  America.  Its  seating  ca- 
pacity was  two  thousand,  of  whom  nine  hun- 
dred could  be  accommodated  in  the  boxes,  and 
its  initial  company  was  very  strong  both  as 
to  numbers  and  talent.  In  this  house  it  was 
that  John  Howard  Payne,  afterwards  cele- 
brated as  the  author  of  "  Home,  Sweet  Home  " 
made  his  Philadelphia  debut  (December  5,  1809) 
in  the  part  of  Hamlet.  Durang  says  of  him, 
"  His  youth  and  beauty  of  figure  were  highly 
prepossessing.  But  sixteen  years  of  age  and 


24  ROMANTIC   DAYS 

petite  in  stature,  yet  he  appeared  the  epitome 
of  a  Prince  Hamlet  in  soul  and  manner.  His 
face  beamed  with  intelligence  and  his  bearing 
was  of  the  most  courtly  mould.  He  was  vigor- 
ous without  rant;  chaste  but  not  dull.  He  por- 
trayed all  the  quick  thought,  restless  disposi- 
tion and  infirm  philosophy  of  Hamlet  with  great 
judgment  and  tact." 

Philadelphia's  first  great  theatrical  furor  was 
excited  by  the  arrival  in  1811  of  George  Freder- 
ick Cooke,  the  English  tragedian.  In  those  days 
there  was  no  advance  seat  sale,  the  method  being 
for  servants,  or  those  temporarily  retained  by 
intending  playgoers,  to  stand  in  line  for  places, 
and  when  the  doors  were  opened,  rush  in  to 
seize  seats  in  which  they  remained  until  their 
employers  came  to  claim  them.  As  early  as  the 
Sunday  evening  preceding  Cooke's  first  per- 
formance the  steps  of  the  theatre  were  covered 
with  men  prepared  to  spend  the  night,  some  of 
whom  actually  took  off  their  hats  and  put  on 
nightcaps.  By  Monday  morning  the  streets 
were  impassable  and  by  evening  the  crowd  was 
so  great  that  it  was  evident  that  ticket-holders, 
especially  ladies,  would  not  be  able  to  make  their 
way  through  it  without  danger.  Accordingly, 
a  placard  was  displayed  saying  that  those  who 
held  admission  tickets  could  go  in  through  the 
stage  door.  This  so  clogged  that  approach,  how- 
ever, that  when  Cooke  arrived,  he  was  obliged 


IN    THE    EARLY    REPUBLIC      25 

to  make  himself  known  before  even  he  could 
force  a  passage  through.  He  did  this  by  calling 
out,  "  I  am  like  that  man  going  to  be  hanged  who 
told  the  crowd  they  would  have  no  fun  unless 
they  made  way  for  him! "  Contemporary  criti- 
cisms make  one  feel  that  his  performance  was 
almost  worth  the  trouble  it  cost  to  see  it;  and 
when  one  reflects  that  the  first-night  receipts 
$1,604,  came  from  prices  so  modest  that  boxes 
brought  only  one  dollar,  one  sighs  for  the  "  good 
old  days."  Cooke  was  the  first  of  the  English 
"  stars  "  to  visit  Philadelphia,  but  many  lights 
of  lesser  magnitude  now  followed  in  his  train 
and  most  of  them  went  to  the  Chestnut  Street. 
It  was  therefore  a  heavy  blow  to  the  drama  in 
Philadelphia  when  that  playhouse  burned  down 
on  April  2,  1820.  Plans  for  rebuilding  were 
immediately  made,  however,  so  that  it  was  still 
in  the  Chestnut  Street  Theatre  that  the  elder 
Booth  and  Charles  Mathews  scored  their  early 
Philadelphia  successes.  It  was  here  also  (July 
5,  1826),  that  Edwin  Forrest  made  his  first  ap- 
pearance in  his  native  city  as  a  star." 

To  the  annals  of  the  Walnut  Street  Theatre, 
however,  belongs  the  proud  occasion  of  Forrest's 
debut;  and  it  was  there,  also,  that  this  very 
great  actor  made  his  last  appearance  on  a  Phila- 
delphia stage  in  1871.  On  November  27,  1820, 
it  was  announced  that  "  a  young  gentleman  of 
this  city  "  would  play  young  Norval,  and,  two 


26  ROMANTIC   DAYS 

months  later,  a  performance  "  for  Master  For- 
rest's benefit  "  was  advertised. 

Edwin  Forrest  was  then  fourteen  years  of  age. 
He  was  born  in  a  small  frame  house  numbered 
51  on  George,  afterwards  Guilford,  Street,  and 
his  father  was  a  runner  for  the  old  United  States 
Bank.  But,  this  not  being  a  very  remunerative 
occupation,  little  Edwin  had  early  to  shift  for 
himself  and  so  made  his  debut  upon  the  stage  of 
life,  as  many  another  eminent  man  before  and 
since  has  done,  by  being  the  "  devil  "  of  a  news- 
paper office.  This  work  he  left  to  enter  a  cooper- 
shop.  His  only  contact  with  the  tubs  seems, 
however,  to  have  been  when  he  turned  them  up- 
side down  and  on  the  thus-improvised  platform 
spouted  Shakespeare  and  other  poets  for  the 
edification  of  his  fellow-workmen.  Then  he 
became  a  clerk  and  joined  an  amateur  theat- 
rical company.  To  appear  professionally  as 
young  Norval  was  now  an  easy  transition. 

Two  days  after  Edwin  Forrest's  benefit  (in 
January,  1821)  another  notable  event  occurred 
at  the  Walnut  Street  Theatre  —  Edmund  Kean 
made  his  first  appearance  in  Philadelphia.  The 
character  he  had  chosen  was  that  of  Richard  III, 
and  many  of  his  auditors,  remembering  Cooke's 
wonderful  performance,  were  inclined  to  view 
the  newcomer  coldly.  But,  as  the  play  pro- 
gressed, Kean's  great  powers  began  to  reveal 
themselves  and  the  applause  which  greeted  his 


IN    THE    EARLY    REPUBLIC      27 

final  scenes  was  such  that  he  was  speedily 
offered  another  engagement.  His  second  stay  in 
the  city  terminated  disastrously,  however,  for, 
whether  from  drink  or  from  the  dawning  of  that 
mental  malady  which  afterwards  afflicted  him, 
he  so  conducted  himself,  while  on  the  stage,  that 
there  ensued  a  riot  which  was  long  remembered 
in  Philadelphia. 

This  unpleasant  occurrence  did  not  tend  to 
make  the  city  any  less  hospitable,  happily,  to 
the  two  Kembles,  father  and  daughter,  when 
they  came  along  in  1832,  playing  "  Romeo  and 
Juliet"  together,  and  giving  finished  perform- 
ances of  other  masterpieces,  also.  Fanny  Kem- 
ble's  letters  about  her  experiences  in  the  Quaker 
City  are  delightful  reading.  In  speaking  of  the 
"  Romeo  and  Juliet  "  she  says  that,  in  spite  of 
the  manifest  absurdity  of  her  father's  acting 
Romeo  to  his  own  child's  Juliet,  "  the  perfection 
of  his  art  makes  it  more  youthful,  graceful,  ar- 
dent and  lover-like  —  a  better  Romeo,  in  short, 
than  the  youngest  pretender  to  it  nowadays." 
Evidently  the  Philadelphians  thought  so,  too, 
for  they  were  exceedingly  nice  to  the  Kembles,  — 
especially  Fanny.  Even  the  Quakers,  who  dis- 
approved of  the  theatre,  recognized  the  exquis- 
ite quality  of  this  child  of  the  stage,  it  would 
appear.  "  And  how  doth  Fanny?  "  questioned 
the  master  of  a  Quaker  shop  of  one  of  her  party 
who  was  doing  some  shopping.  "  I  was  in  hopes 


28  ROMANTIC    DAYS 

she  might  have  wanted  something;  we  should 
have  great  pleasure  in  attending  upon  her." 
'  Was  not  that  nice?  "  the  sweet  girl  exclaims, 
in  her  letter  home,  adding,  "  I  went  thither  to- 
day and  bought  myself  a  lovely  sober-coloured 
gown!  " 

It  should  not,  however,  be  thought  that 
theatre-going  was  the  sole  amusement  of  Phila- 
delphia at  this  period.  Quite  a  surprising  vari- 
ety of  sports  and  entertainments  disclose  them- 
selves, indeed,  as  one  reads  the  memoirs  and 
diaries  of  the  time.  Before  the  Revolution  such 
barbarous  amusements  as  cock-fighting,  bull- 
baiting  and  bear-baiting  were  frequently  in- 
dulged in,  —  especially  cock-fighting,  which 
seems  then  to  have  been  "  the  sport  for  gentle- 
men!" Watson  in  his  Annals  quotes  from  a 
letter  of  Dr.  William  Shippen  to  Dr.  Gardiner 
(in  1735)  announcing  that  he  has  sent  his  friend 
"  a  young  game-cock  to  be  depended  upon," 
and  giving  as  a  reason  for  not  sending  an  old 
cock  that  "  our  young  cockers  have  contrived 
to  kill  and  steal  all  I  had."  The  Philadelphians, 
too,  showed  their  English  ancestry  by  their 
fondness  for  horseflesh,  pacers,  rather  oddly, 
being  deemed  the  most  genteel  horses.  And 
horses  were  raced  —  though  the  Society  of 
Friends,  at  a  very  early  period,  expressed  strong 
disapproval  of  horse-racing  and  did  all  that  they 
could  to  discourage  it. 


IN    THE    EARLY    REPUBLIC      29 

Even  the  Quakers,  however,  indulged  in  some 
forms  of  water-sports.  Elizabeth  Drinker's  de- 
lightful Diary  contains  many  references  to  dips 
in  the  surf  enjoyed  by  her  "  dear  Henry  "  during 
their  visits  to  New  York,  and  fishing  and  skating 
clubs,  as  natural  recreations  which  could  be 
freely  indulged  in  by  all,  were  deservedly  popu- 
lar. Graydon  boldly  dubbed  the  Philadelphians 
"  the  best  skaters  in  the  world."  "  Though  they 
have  never  reduced  it  to  rules,  like  the  London- 
ers, nor  connected  it  with  their  business  like 
Dutchmen,  I  will  yet  hazard  that  opinion,"  he 
declares.  In  support  of  which  judgment  one 
may  quote  the  following  anecdote  of  the  painter 
West,  as  rehearsed  in  Dunlap's  History  of  Art. 
West  had  the  Philadelphia  skill  in  skating  and, 
while  in  America,  had  formed  the  acquaintance 
on  the  ice  with  Colonel  (afterwards  General) 
Howe.  But  they  entirely  lost  track  of  each 
other  until  one  day  when  the  painter,  having 
fastened  on  his  skates  at  the  Serpentine,  was 
astonishing  the  timid  tyros  of  London  by  the 
rapidity  of  his  motions  and  the  graceful  figure 
which  he  made.  Some  one  cried,  *  West ! 
West!  "  It  was  Colonel  Howe.  "  I  am  glad 
to  see  you,"  said  he,  "  and  not  the  less  so  that 
you  come  in  good  time  to  vindicate  my  praises 
of  American  skating."  Whereupon  West  dis- 
played his  great  skill  to  the  gentlemen  to  whom 
Howe  introduced  him  —  and  made  for  himself 


30  ROMANTIC   DAYS 

many   admiring  friends   who   afterwards   com- 
missioned him  to  paint  their  portraits. 

Card-playing,  even  for  amusement,  never 
prevailed  to  any  great  extent  in  Philadelphia, 
and  that  in  an  age  when  gaming  was  elsewhere 
the  pet  vice  of  the  fashionable.  Witty  Rebecca 
Franks,  when  off  on  a  visit  to  New  York,  wrote 
back,  "  Few  ladies  here  know  how  to  entertain 
company  in  their  own  houses  unless  they  intro- 
duce the  card  table.  .  .  .  The  Philadelphians 
have  more  cleverness  in  the  turn  of  an  eye  than 
those  of  New  York  have  in  their  whole  compo- 
sition. With  what  ease  have  I  seen  a  Chew,  a 
Penn,  an  Oswald,  an  Allen  and  a  thousand  others, 
entertain  a  large  circle  of  both  sexes,  the  con- 
versation, without  the  aid  of  cards,  never  flag- 
ging nor  seeming  in  the  least  strained  or  stupid." 
Billiards,  too,  were  anathema  in  Philadelphia 
until  a  resourceful  writer  discovered  in  this 
amusement  an  analogy  to  marbles,  and  so  re- 
moved the  curse.  "  Both  games,"  he  lucidly 
pointed  out,  "  are  played  with  balls;  the  only 
difference  is  that  the  one  is  made  of  common 
stone,  the  other  of  ivory,  and  that  the  one  is 
driven  forward  by  the  hand  and  the  other  with 
a  stick.  Now,  I  cannot  see  why  anything  sinful 
can  be  attributed  to  an  elephant's  tooth  more 
than  to  a  stone,  or  how  the  crime  is  greater  by 
propelling  a  ball  with  a  stick  instead  of  the  hand, 
or  by  playing  it  on  a  table  and  in  a  room  instead 


IN    THE    EARLY   REPUBLIC     31 

of  at  a  corner  of  the  street  and  on  the  ground." 
Thenceforward  billiards  was  respectable. 

Of  out-door  places  of  public  resort  there  were 
several  in  old  Philadelphia.  One,  fitted  up  on 
the  plan  of  the  public  gardens  in  London  and 
situated  at  the  Lower  Ferry  of  the  Schuylkill, 
was  opened  shortly  after  the  Revolution  and 
known  as  Gray's  Gardens.  Soon  there  came  a 
rival  called  Harrowgate,  where  a  mineral  spring 
had  been  discovered,  in  whose  properties,  how- 
ever, the  proprietor  of  the  place  seems  not  to 
have  put  all  his  trust,  inasmuch  as  he  adver- 
tised, besides  his  mineral  water,  "  the  best  of 
liquors  of  all  and  every  kind."  The  Wigwam 
baths,  on  the  banks  of  the  Schuylkill,  at  the  foot 
of  Race  Street,  sounds,  however,  the  most  allur- 
ing place  of  them  all.  For  in  this  establishment, 
fitted  up  in  1791  by  John  Coyle,  was  to  be  found 
a  bowling  green,  two  shower  baths,  and  one 
plunging  bath,  besides  good  things  to  eat. 
Priest,  in  his  Travels  Through  the  United  States, 
1793-97,  says,  "  One  evening  at  six  o'clock,  a 
party  of  pleasure  went  to  a  tea-garden  and  tav- 
ern romantically  situated  on  the  banks  of  the 
Schuylkill,  famous  for  serving  up  coffee  in  style. 
On  the  table  there  were  coffee,  cheese,  sweet- 
cakes,  hung  beef,  sugar,  pickled  salmon,  butter, 
crackers,  ham,  cream,  and  bread.  The  ladies 
all  declared  it  was  a  most  charming  relish." 

Fireworks,  known  as  "  grand  pyrotechnic  dis- 


32  ROMANTIC   DAYS 

plays,"  were  always  popular  in  Philadelphia, 
and  for  museums  full  of  curiosities  the  people 
also  had  a  wholesome  fondness.  Keeping  such 
museums  was  a  very  respectable  occupation,  too, 
because,  for  a  long  time,  only  gentlemen  en- 
gaged in  it.  Charles  Wilson  Peale,  the  painter, 
was  one  of  these.  Peale's  first  museum  was  in 
his  residence,  corner  of  Third  and  Lombard 
Streets,  but  when  his  collections  so  increased 
as  to  make  these  quarters  too  small  the  Philo- 
sophical Society  offered  him  the  use  of  its  build- 
ing in  Fifth  Street,  below  Chestnut.  To  this 
place  it  was  that  all  Philadelphia  for  years  took 
its  visiting  country  cousins  to  see  the  mammoth, 
whose  rehabilitation,  by  Peale  and  his  clever 
sons,  had  been  celebrated  by  the  serving  of  a 
collation,  inside  the  huge  skeleton,  to  twelve  gentle- 
men whom  Peale  desired  thus  to  honor!  An- 
other feature  of  this  fascinating  resort  was  a 
collection  of  stuffed  monkeys,  dressed  as  human 
beings  and  engaged  in  some  of  the  occupations 
familiar  to  man.  Peale's  Museum  was  ulti- 
mately absorbed  by  the  Philadelphia  Museum 
Company  situated  at  the  corner  of  Ninth  and 
Sansom  Streets,  and  here,  besides  the  Peale  por- 
traits, the  mammoth  and  the  monkeys,  there  was 
long  shown  a  notable  collection  of  life-like  wax 
figures  (owned  by  Nathan  Dunn,  who  had  been 
a  merchant  in  China)  and  representing  properly- 
costumed  Chinese  men  and  women,  looking  and 


IN    THE    EARLY    REPUBLIC      33 

bearing  themselves  exactly  as  the  Chinese  people 
then  did  in  their  streets  and  native  bazaars. 
'  The  store-keeper  was  behind  his  counter  just 
as  he  was  to  be  seen  in  the  streets  of  Canton,  with 
rolls  of  real  silk  upon  the  shelves  of  his  shop. 
A  tawny-skinned  customer  was  represented 
making  his  selection  of  goods;  a  clerk  was  busy 
at  his  desk  making  entries  in  his  books  with  the 
aid  of  a  camel's  hair  pencil  and  a  stick  of  India 
ink;  a  beggar  was  soliciting  alms;  the  walls 
were  adorned  with  wise  maxims  from  Confu- 
cius. In  the  narrow  apartment,  which  repre- 
sented the  open  street,  were  Chinese  coolies 
trotting  along  with  some  luxurious  individual 
suspended  in  a  sedan  chair  from  bamboo  poles; 
the  Chinese  barber  was  seen  plying  his  trade 
upon  the  'nob'  of  a  customer  in  the  open  air; 
the  itinerant  tinker  was  blowing  his  fire  to  com- 
mence operations  upon  a  cracked  dinner-pot; 
an  ancient  cobbler  was  busy  upon  a  damaged 
shoe;  and  even  the  boatman,  who  spends  his 
entire  life  upon  a  frail  skiff  upon  the  Canton 
River,  was  represented  with  his  wife  and  his 
little  ones,  on  board  a  real  boat  taken  from  the 
river  by  Mr.  Dunn,  with  all  its  real  fixtures  and 
appurtenances  complete  even  to  the  gourd  which 
was  tied  to  the  young  amphibious  Celestials  to 
keep  them  afloat  in  case  of  a  sudden  dip  in  the 
river."  l  As  the  day  of  the  moving  picture  and 

1  History  of  Chestnut  Street,  by  Casper  Souder,  Jr. 


34  ROMANTIC   DAYS 

of  cheap  Cook  tours  around  the  world  had  then 
not  come,  it  will  be  understood  that  this  exhibi- 
tion was  a  much-prized  source  of  entertainment 
and  instruction  in  Philadelphia. 

There  were  permanent  circuses,  too,  when 
the  Republic  was  still  very  young.  But  they 
were  looked  upon  as  rather  doubtful  amusements, 
and  when  one  of  them,  Ricketts'  circus,  burned 
up,  in  the  course  of  a  representation  of  Don 
Juan,  which  realistically  depicted  that  fasci- 
nating philanderer  being  consumed  by  the  fires 
of  hell,  the  catastrophe  was  declared  by  some 
to  be  a  judgment  of  Providence  on  a  grossly 
impious  act.  Sensible  Elizabeth  Drinker  ap- 
pears not  to  have  shared  in  this  narrow  view, 
however,  for  she  merely  quotes  the  account  of 
the  fire  as  published  in  Claypole's  paper  *  of 
December  18,  1799,  and  makes  no  comment 
whatever  on  it. 

Against  masked  dancing  parties  Philadelphia 
sternly  set  its  face.  Dancing  masters  of  many 
kinds  and  grades  had  for  some  time  practised 
their  profession  quite  undisturbed,  but  when, 
in  1804,  Monsieur  Epervil  made  an  attempt  to 
introduce  masquerade  balls,  an  Act  of  Assembly 
promptly  declared  this  form  of  entertainment 
to  be  a  common  nuisance.  That  the  evil  to  be 
suppressed  was  supposed  to  be  a  very  serious 

1  Philadelphia  published  no  less  than  eight  daily  papers  at  this 
period! 


IN    THE    EARLY    REPUBLIC      35 

one  is  shown  by  the  fact  that  Section  I  of  the 
prohibiting  act  provided  that  "  every  house- 
keeper within  the  Commonwealth  who  shall 
knowingly  permit  and  suffer  a  masquerade  or 
masked  ball  to  be  given  in  his  or  her  house,  any 
person  who  shall  set  on  foot,  promote  or  en- 
courage any  masquerade  or  masked  ball,  and 
every  person  who  shall  knowingly  attend  or  be 
present  at  any  masquerade  or  masked  ball  in 
mask  or  otherwise,  being  thereof  legally  con- 
victed, .  .  .  shall  for  each  and  every  offence  be 
sentenced  to  an  imprisonment  not  exceeding 
three  months,  and  to  pay  a  fine  not  exceeding 
one  thousand  or  less  than  fifty  dollars,  and  to 
give  security  in  such  sum  as  the  court  may  direct 
to  keep  the  peace  and  be  of  good  behavior  for 
one  year." 

Dancing  itself  was  not  frowned  down,  how- 
ever. Even  before  the  middle  of  the  eighteenth 
century  there  were  several  different  dancing  sets 
among  the  "  world's  people  "  of  the  town.  A 
dancing  assembly  was  formed,  probably  for  the 
first  time,  in  1740,  though  what  is  known  as  the 
First  Dancing  Assembly  was  not  organized  until 
eight  years  later.  The  membership  in  this  latter 
group  comprised  representatives  from  nearly 
all  the  prominent  Philadelphia  families  who 
were  not  Quakers,  and  its  formation  marks  the 
beginning  of  an  important  epoch  in  the  social 
and  family  history  of  the  city.  The  subscrip- 


36  ROMANTIC   DAYS 

tion  price  was  forty  shillings,  but  it  was  family 
and  not  wealth  which  constituted  the  qualifi- 
cation for  membership;  when  the  daughter  of 
Michael  Hillegas,  the  first  treasurer  of  the 
United  States,  married  a  prosperous  jeweler 
and  goldsmith  of  Market  Street  she  was  com- 
pelled to  forego  her  former  place,  the  families 
of  mechanics,  however  wealthy,  being  rigorously 
excluded.  Somewhat  later  another  assembly, 
not  so  exclusive,  was  formed,  and  it  is  said  that 
when  General  Washington  was  invited  to  both 
balls  on  the  same  night  he  put  in  an  appearance 
at  both  and  stayed  precisely  as  long  at  one  place 
as  the  other. 

The  Marquis  de  Chastellux  gives  a  racy  ac- 
count of  one  of  these  subscription  balls  which  he 
attended  while  visiting  Philadelphia  after  the 
Revolution.  "  A  manager  or  master  of  cere- 
monies presides  at  these  methodical  amusements; 
he  presents  to  the  gentlemen  and  ladies,  dan- 
cers, billets  folded  up  containing  each  a  number; 
thus  fate  decides  the  male  or  female  partner 
for  the  whole  evening.  All  the  dances  are  pre- 
viously arranged  and  the  dancers  are  called  in 
their  turns.  These  dances,  like  the  toasts  we 
drink  at  table,  have  some  relation  to  politics; 
one  is  called  the  Success  of  the  Campaign,  an- 
other the  Defeat  of  Burgoyne,  and  a  third  Clin- 
ton's Retreat.  The  managers  are  generally 
chosen  from  among  the  most  distinguished  offi- 


IN    THE    EARLY    REPUBLIC      37 

cers  of  the  army.  .  .  .  Colonel  Mitchell  was 
formerly  the  manager  but  when  I  saw  him  he  had 
descended  from  the  magistracy  and  danced  like 
a  private  citizen.  He  is  said  to  have  exercised 
his  office  with  great  severity  and  it  is  told  of 
him  that  a  young  lady  who  was  figuring  in  a 
country  dance,  having  forgotten  her  turn  by 
conversing  with  a  friend,  was  thus  addressed 
by  him,  '  Give  over,  Miss,  mind  what  you  are 
about.  Do  you  think  you  come  here  for  your 
pleasure? ' 

Of  the  ladies  to  be  met  with  at  these  and  sim- 
ilar social  functions  de  Chastellux  speaks  rather 
slightingly  but  the  Duke  de  Rochefoucauld- 
Liancourt,  who  was  in  Philadelphia  about  five 
months  towards  the  close  of  the  year  1794,  de- 
clares with  incomparable  gallantry,  "  In  the 
numerous  assemblies  of  Philadelphia  it  is  im- 
possible to  meet  with  what  is  called  a  plain 
woman."  Rochefoucauld,  to  be  sure,  saw  the 
city's  very  choicest  daughters,  for  he  brought 
many  letters  of  introduction  and  was  very  cor- 
dially received  in  the  best  homes.  Moreover, 
the  time  of  which  he  wrote  was  a  dozen  years 
later  than  that  of  de  Chastellux's  visit;  dozens 
of  promising  girls  might  have  grown  up  to  be 
superb  women  in  that  interval.  Yet  valuable 
as  are  the  descriptions  of  Philadelphia  furnished 
us  by  these  various  clever  Frenchmen  who  came 
to  America  at  this  period  and  went  back  to 


38  ROMANTIC   DAYS 

write  books  about  what  they  saw,  it  is  only  after 
one  has  read  them  all  and  made  one's  own  de- 
ductions from  the  sum-total  of  their  impressions 
that  one  arrives  at  what  was  probably  the  real 
truth. 

Brissot  de  Warville  has  left  us  a  delightful 
description  of  Philadelphia  about  1788,  which 
gives  perhaps  as  true  a  contemporary  picture  as 
can  be  found  of  the  way  the  city  looked  then: 
"  At  ten  o'clock  in  the  evening,"  he  says,  "  all 
is  tranquil  in  the  streets;  the  profound  silence 
which  reigns  there  is  only  interrupted  by  the 
voice  of  the  watchmen,  who  are  in  small  numbers 
and  who  form  the  only  patrole.  The  streets  are 
lighted  by  lamps,  placed  like  those  of  London. 

"  On  the  side  of  the  streets  are  footways  of 
brick,  and  gutters  constructed  of  brick  or  wood. 
Strong  posts  are  placed  to  prevent  carriages 
from  passing  on  the  footways.  All  the  streets 
are  furnished  with  public  pumps  in  great  num- 
bers. At  the  door  of  each  house  are  placed  two 
benches  where  the  family  sit  at  evening  to  take 
the  fresh  air  and  amuse  themselves  from  look- 
ing at  the  passengers.  It  is  certainly  a  bad  cus- 
tom as  the  evening  air  is  unhealthful,  and  the 
exercise  is  not  sufficient  to  correct  this  evil,  for 
they  never  walk  here:  they  supply  the  want  of 
walking  by  riding  out  into  the  country.  They 
have  few  coaches  at  Philadelphia.  You  see 
many  handsome  waggons  which  are  used  to 


IN    THE    EARLY    REPUBLIC      39 

carry  the  family  into  the  country;  they  are  a 
kind  of  long  carriage,  light  and  open,  and  many 
contain  twelve  persons.  They  have  many  chairs 
and  sulkeys  open  on  all  sides;  the  former  may 
carry  two  persons,  the  latter  only  one. 

"  Philadelphia  is  built  on  a  regular  plan; 
long  and  large  streets  cross  each  other  at  right 
angles:  this  regularity  is  at  first  embarrassing 
to  a  stranger;  he  has  much  difficulty  in  finding 
himself,  especially  if  the  streets  are  not  in- 
scribed, and  the  doors  not  numbered.  It  is 
strange  that  the  Quakers,  who  are  so  fond  of 
order,  have  not  adopted  these  two  conveniences ; 
that  they  have  not  borrowed  them  from  the 
English,  of  whom  they  have  borrowed  so  many 
things. 

"  Already  they  have  carpets  in  Philadelphia, 
elegant  carpets;  it  is  a  favorite  taste  with  the 
Americans;  they  receive  it  from  the  interested 
avarice  of  their  old  masters,  the  English.  A 
carpet  in  summer  is  an  absurdity;  yet  they 
spread  them  in  this  season,  and  from  vanity: 
this  vanity  excuses  itself  by  saying  that  the  car- 
pet is  an  ornament;  that  is  to  say,  they  sacrifice 
reason  and  utility  to  show. 

'The  Quakers  have  likewise  carpets;  but 
the  rigorous  ones  blame  this  practice.  They 
mentioned  to  me  an  instance  of  a  Quaker  from 
Carolina,  who,  going  to  dine  with  one  of  the 
most  opulent  at  Philadelphia,  was  offended  at 


40  ROMANTIC   DAYS 

finding  the  passage  from  the  door  to  the  stair- 
case covered  with  a  carpet,  and  would  not  enter 
the  house;  he  said  that  he  never  dined  in  a  house 
where  there  was  luxury;  and  that  it  was  better 
to  clothe  the  poor  than  to  clothe  the  earth. 

"  Notwithstanding  the  fatal  effects  that  might 
be  expected  here  from  luxury,  we  may  say  with 
truth  that  there  is  no  town  where  morals  are 
more  respected.  Adultery  is  not  known  here: 
there  is  no  instance  of  a  wife  of  any  sect  who  has 
failed  in  her  duties.  This  I  am  told  is  owing 
to  what  may  be  called  the  civil  state  of  women. 
They  marry  without  dower;  they  bring  to  their 
husbands  only  the  furniture  of  their  houses, 
and  they  wait  the  death  of  their  parents,  before 
they  come  to  the  possession  of  their  property." 
An  explanation,  if  not  a  very  noble  one,  of  what 
seemed  to  Brissot  the  extraordinary  chastity 
of  the  Philadelphia  women! 

"  The  State  House  where  the  Legislature  as- 
sembles, is  a  handsome  building,"  our  chroni- 
cler then  declares  —  thus  bringing  us  to  the 
reconstruction  period  in  Philadelphia.  The 
manner  in  which  the  official  families  of  the  city 
entertained  themselves  at  this  stage  of  our 
country's  development  is  interesting.  Wash- 
ington tried  as  hard  and  as  naively  as  anyone  to 
divert  himself  after  the  strain  of  the  war.  The 
theatre,  the  circus,  balloon  ascensions,  even  cock- 
fights were  visited  by  him,  as  we  see  from  the 


IN    THE    EARLY    REPUBLIC      41 

scrupulous  care  with  which  he  recorded  his  va- 
rious expenditures.  Once  he  gave  nine  shillings 
to  a  man  "  who  brought  an  elk  to  exhibit,"  and 
we  find  that  he  went  with  impartial  avidity  to 
see  an  automaton,  a  dancing  bear,  a  puppet 
show,  wax-works,  and  a  tiny  menagerie  made 
up  only  of  a  tiger  and  a  lioness.  For  lotteries, 
then  in  good  repute,  he  had  a  distinct  passion, 
though  he  was  never  lucky  about  drawing 
things.  "  By  profit  and  loss,  in  two  chances 
in  raffling  for  encyclopaedia  Britannica  which  I 
did  not  win  £1/4,"  is  a  characteristic  entry 
in  his  account  book. 

That  the  man  at  the  head  of  the  country's 
activities  must  greatly  have  needed  diversion, 
while  the  Constitution  was  being  framed,  we 
may  well  believe.  The  delegates  chosen  for 
this  Herculean  task  assembled  in  Philadelphia, 
in  May,  1787,  and  went  immediately  to  work 
in  the  old  State  House,  whose  walls  had  previ- 
ously echoed  the  Declaration  of  Independence. 
By  September  they  were  able  to  submit  the 
document,  on  which  they  had  labored  so  hard 
for  four  months,  to  the  various  States  for  ratifi- 
cation, and  on  April  30th,  1789,  Washington 
was  duly  inaugurated.  Thus  the  United  States 
possessed  at  last  a  settled  government  and  a 
visible  head.  Soon,  now,  Philadelphia  was  to  be 
the  capital  for  ten  years,  and  that  in  spite  of  the 
murmurs  of  those  officials  who  found  the  native 


42  ROMANTIC   DAYS 

complacency  very  irritating  and  the  cost  of 
living  appallingly  high.  "  The  city  is  large  and 
elegant,"  writes  Oliver  Wolcott  to  his  wife, 
:<  but  it  did  not  strike  me  with  the  astonishment 
which  the  citizens  predicted." 

Abigail  Adams,  too,  was  only  mildly  pleased 
with  the  place  which  was  now  for  some  years 
to  be  her  home.  '  The  Schuylkill,"  she  writes 
her  daughter,  Nov.  21,  1790,  "  is  no  more  like 
the  Hudson  than  I  to  Hercules.  .  .  .  When  we 
arrived  we  found  the  first  load  of  our  furniture 
being  taken  into  a  house  all  green-painted,  and 
the  workmen  there  with  their  brushes  in  hand. 
.  .  .  No  wood  nor  fodder  had  been  provided 
beforehand,  so  we  could  only  turn  about,  and 
go  to  the  City  Tavern  for  the  night. 

:<  The  next  morning  was  pleasant,  and  I  ven- 
tured to  come  up  and  take  possession.  But 
what  confusion!  Boxes,  barrels,  chairs,  tables, 
trunks,  etc.,  everything  to  be  arranged,  and  few 
hands  to  accomplish  it.  ...  The  first  object 
was  to  get  fires;  the  next  to  get  up  beds; 
but  the  cold,  damp  rooms,  the  new  paint,  etc., 
proved  almost  too  much  for  me.  On  Friday 
we  arrived  here,  and  late  on  Saturday  evening 
we  got  our  furniture  in.  On  Sunday  Thomas 
was  laid  up  with  the  rheumatism;  on  Monday  I 
was  obliged  to  give  Louis  an  emetic;  on  Tuesday 
Mrs.  Briesler  was  taken  with  her  old  pain  in  her 
stomach;  and  to  complete  the  whole,  on  Thurs- 


IN    THE    EARLY   REPUBLIC      43 

day  Polly  was  seized  with  a  violent  pluritic  fever. 
She  has  been  twice  bled,  a  blister  upon  her  side, 
and  has  not  been  out  of  bed  since,  only  as  she's 
taken  up  to  have  her  bed  made.  And  every  day, 
the  stormy  ones  excepted,  from  eleven  until 
three,  the  house  is  filled  with  ladies  and  gentle- 
men. All  this  is  no  more  nor  worse  than  I  ex- 
pected, I  bear  it  without  repining,  and  feel  thank- 
ful that  I  have  weathered  it  without  a  relapse, 
though  some  days  I  have  not  been  able  to  sit 
up. 

"  Mrs.  Bingham  has  been  twice  to  see  me. 
I  think  she  is  more  amiable  and  beautiful  than 
ever.  .  .  .  I've  not  yet  begun  to  return  visits 
as  the  ladies  expect  to  find  me  at  home.  .  .  . 
Mrs.  Lear  was  in  to  see  me  yesterday  and  as- 
sures me  that  I  am  much  better  off  than  Mrs. 
Washington  will  be  when  she  arrives,  for  that 
their  house  is  not  likely  to  be  completed  this 
year.  And  when  all  is  done  it  will  not  be  Broad- 
way." 

The  Mrs.  Bingham  to  whom  Abigail  Adams 
here  makes  admiring  allusion,  was  for  many 
years  the  leading  spirit  of  Philadelphia  society. 
The  daughter  of  Thomas  Willing  and  a  relative  of 
the  famous  family  of  Shippens,  to  whom  several 
references  have  already  been  made,  she  was  mar- 
ried Oct.  26th,  1780  (being  then  only  sixteen!), 
to  William  Bingham,  United  States  Senator  from 
Pennsylvania.  John  Jay,  whose  own  wife  was 


44  ROMANTIC   DAYS 

so  lovely  that  she  was  once  mistaken  at  the 
theatre  in  Paris  for  the  exquisite  Marie  An- 
toinette, wrote  from  Spain  to  felicitate  Mr. 
Bingham  on  his  nuptials  "  with  one  of  the  most 
lovely  of  her  sex."  A  few  years  after  the  mar- 
riage Mr.  and  Mrs.  Bingham  went  abroad  and 
spent  some  time  in  France,  where  she  was  pre- 
sented at  the  court  of  Louis  XVI  and  attracted 
much  attention  among  the  nobles  and  aristoc- 
racy. Her  dress  at  a  certain  dinner  given  by  the 
Lafayettes  is  described  as  of  "  black  velvet  with 
pink  satin  sleeves  and  stomacher,  a  pink  satin 
petticoat,  and  over  it  a  skirt  of  white  crepe 
spotted  all  over  with  gray  fur;  the  sides  of  the 
gown  open  in  front,  and  the  bottom  of  the  coat 
trimmed  with  paste.  It  was  superb." 

After  spending  some  time  at  The  Hague  Mrs. 
Bingham  accompanied  her  husband  to  England, 
where  "  her  elegance  and  beauty  attracted  more 
attention  than  was  perhaps  willingly  expressed 
in  the  old  Court  of  George  the  Third."  Great 
as  was  the  reputation  of  American  women  for 
beauty,  Mrs.  Adams  wrote  that  she  had  never 
seen  a  lady  in  England  who  could  bear  com- 
parison with  Mrs.  Bingham.  And  from  London 
Miss  Adams  later  wrote  of  this  fascinating 
woman,  "  She  is  coming  quite  into  fashion  here 
and  is  very  much  admired.  The  hairdresser 
who  dresses  us  on  Court-days  inquired  of 
mamma  whether  she  knew  the  lady  so  much 


Copyrighted,  1898,  by  the  Pennsylvania  Academy  of  Fine  Arts. 

MRS.    MAJOR   WILLIAM   JACKSON    (BORN   ELIZABETH   WILLING.) 

From  the  portrait  by  Gilbert  Stuart  now  in  the  possession  of  the  Pennsylvania  Academy 

of  Fine  Arts. 
Page  47. 


1.   THIRD  STREET  FROM  SPRUCE  STREET,  ABOUT  1800. 
2.   HIGH  STREET  FROM  NINTH  STREET,  ABOUT  1800. 


talked  of  here  from  America  —  Mrs.  Bingham. 
He  has  heard  of  her  .  .  .  and  at  last  speaking 
of  Miss  Hamilton  he  said  with  a  twirl  of  his 
comb,  '  Well,  it  does  not  signify,  but  the  Ameri- 
can ladies  do  beat  the  English  all  to  nothing.' ' 
From  which  authoritative  pronouncement,  one 
must  conclude  that  Mrs.  Bingham  was,  indeed, 
a  woman  of  rare  beauty.  She  possessed  im- 
mense wealth  also,  which  enabled  her  to  live 
in  very  great  luxury,  and  inasmuch  as  her  hus- 
band upon  his  return  to  Philadelphia  built  in 
Third  Street  above  Spruce  a  mansion-house 
modeled  on  the  Duke  of  Manchester's  residence, 
she  was  able  to  entertain  in  a  truly  splendid 
fashion. 

One  of  the  foreign  customs  introduced  into 
Philadelphia  society  by  Mrs.  Bingham  was  that 
of  the  servants'  announcing  the  names  of  guests 
on  their  arrival  at  a  party,  at  different  stages  of 
the  way  from  the  hall  to  the  drawing-room. 
One  evening  a  visitor,  to  whom  this  was  an  in- 
novation, hearing  his  name  called  out  repeatedly 
while  he  was  removing  his  outer  garments,  cried 
out,  "  Coming!  "  "  Coming!  "  and  in  a  louder 
tone  as  he  heard  his  name  at  the  drawing-room 
door,  "  Coming!  As  soon  as  I  can  get  my  great- 
coat off!" 

The  first  masquerade  ball  in  Philadelphia  is 
said  to  have  been  given  at  Mrs.  Bingham's,  but 
this  lady  did  not  greatly  patronize  the  theatre, 


46  ROMANTIC   DAYS 

and  so  was  refused  on  any  terms  the  private 
box  which  she  begged  Manager  Wignell  to  grant 
her.  She  offered  to  furnish  and  decorate  the 
box  at  her  own  expense,  but  she  insisted  on  keep- 
ing the  key  and  allowing  no  one  to  enter  with- 
out her  permission;  this  the  manager  would  not 
permit  for  fear  of  offending  the  fierce  spirit  of 
liberty  and  equality  in  the  masses.  When  the 
Viscount  de  Noailles,  brother-in-law  of  La- 
fayette, visited  America  in  the  summer  of  1795, 
he  was  a  guest  of  the  Binghams,  and  when  Louis 
Philippe  was  here  he  is  said  to  have  sought  a 
daughter  of  the  family  in  marriage.  But  the 
senator  declined  the  alliance.  "  Should  you 
ever,"  he  said,  "  be  restored  to  your  hereditary 
position  you  will  be  too  great  a  match  for  my 
daughter;  if  not,  she  is  too  great  a  match  for 

you." 

Quite  different  from  the  elegance  of  the  enter- 
tainments given  at  the  Bingham  mansion,  was 
the  simplicity  of  life  in  Washington's  home. 
Though  Robert  Morris's  house,  the  best  in  the 
city,  was  taken  for  the  President's  residence,  the 
mode  of  life  there  was  notably  simple.  "  On 
Friday  last,"  wrote  Abigail  Adams,  Dec.  26th, 
1790,  "  I  went  with  Charles  to  the  drawing- 
room,  being  the  first  of  my  appearance  in  public. 
The  room  became  full  before  I  left  it,  and  the 
circle  very  brilliant.  How  could  it  be  otherwise, 
when  the  dazzling  Mrs.  Bingham  and  her 


IN    THE    EARLY   REPUBLIC     47 

beautiful  sisters  1  were  there;  the  Misses  Allen, 
and  the  Misses  Chew;  in  short,  a  constellation 
of  beauties?  "  A  more  categorical  description 
of  this  interesting  affair  may  be  found  in  a  letter 
sent  by  Miss  Sally  McKean  back  to  a  friend  in 
New  York:  "  You  never  could  have  had  such 
a  drawing-room;  it  was  brilliant  beyond  any- 
thing you  could  imagine;  and  though  there  was 
a  great  deal  of  extravagance  there  was  so  much 
of  Philadelphia  taste  in  everything,  that  it  must 
have  been  confessed  the  most  delightful  occasion 
of  the  kind  ever  known  in  this  country." 

By  this  time  Mrs.  Adams  appears  to  have 
ceased  to  mourn  for  the  joys  of  "  Broadway." 
"  If  I  were  to  accept  one-half  the  invitations 
I  receive,"  she  wrote,  Jan.  8,  1791,  "  I  should 
spend  a  very  dissipated  winter.  Even  Saturday 
evening  is  not  excepted,  and  I  refused  an  invi- 
tation of  that  kind  for  this  evening.  I  have 
been  to  one  assembly.  The  dancing  was  very 
good;  the  company  the  best;  the  President  and 
Madame,  the  Vice-President  and  Madame,  Min- 
isters of  State  and  their  Madames,  etc. ;  but  the 
room  despicable. 

'  The  managers  [of  the  theatre]  have  been 
very  polite  to  me  and  my  family.  I  have  been 
to  one  play,  and  here  again  we  have  been  treated 

10ne  of  these  "sisters"  was  Mrs.  Major  William  Jackson  (born 
Elizabeth  Willing),  whose  portrait,  by  Stuart,  is  now  owned  by  the 
Pennsylvania  Academy  of  Fine  Arts. 


48  ROMANTIC   DAYS 

with  much  politeness.  The  actors  came  and 
informed  us  that  a  box  was  prepared  for  us. 
The  Vice-President  thanked  them  for  their 
civility,  and  told  them  he  would  attend  when- 
ever the  President  did.  And  last  Wednesday 
we  were  all  there.  The  house  is  equal  to  most 
of  the  theatres  we  meet  with  out  of  France.  It 
is  very  neat  and  prettily  fitted  up;  the  actors 
did  their  best;  '  The  School  for  Scandal '  was 
the  play.  I  missed  the  divine  Farren,  but  upon 
the  whole  it  was  very  well  performed.  On 
Tuesday  next  I  go  to  a  dance  at  Misses  Chews, 
and  on  Friday  sup  at  Mr.  Clymer's;  so  you  see 
I  am  likely  to  be  amused."  So  well  amused, 
indeed,  was  Mrs.  Adams  that  by  the  time  she 
came  to  leave  Philadelphia  she  wrote  thus  cor- 
dially of  the  place:  "  From  its  inhabitants  I 
have  received  every  mark  of  politeness  and 
civility.  The  ladies  are  well  educated,  well 
bred  and  well  dressed.  There  is  much  more  so- 
ciety than  in  New  York." 

From  the  pen  of  Wansey,  an  English  traveler 
who  took  breakfast  with  President  Washington 
in  June,  1794,  we  get  a  vivid  description  of  the 
domestic  manners  which  then  obtained  in  the 
First  Household  of  the  Land.  Mrs.  Washing- 
ton, we  are  told,  made  tea  and  coffee,  and  there 
was  sliced  tongue,  dry  toast,  and  bread  and  but- 
ter. Miss  Eleanor  Custis,  a  girl  of  sixteen,  sat 
nearest  the  hostess,  and  next  came  her  grandson 


IN    THE    EARLY    REPUBLIC      49 

George.  One  servant,  who  wore  no  livery, 
waited  on  the  table;  and  a  silver  urn  for  hot 
water  was  the  only  expensive  piece  of  table 
furniture.  The  President  was  at  that  time  in 
his  sixty-third  year  but  looked  rather  younger 
than  Mrs.  Washington.  She  was  short,  robust 
in  figure  and  very  plainly  dressed ;  her  gray  hair 
turned  up  under  a  plain  cap. 

Wansey  visited  Mrs.  Bingham  also,  and  made 
the  following  note  in  his  diary:  "  June  8,  1794. 
I  dined  this  day  with  Mrs.  Bingham  to  whom  I 
had  letters  of  introduction.  I  found  a  magnifi- 
cent house  and  gardens  in  the  best  English  style, 
with  elegant  and  even  superb  furniture.  The 
chairs  of  the  drawing-room  were  from  Seddons, 
in  London,  of  the  newest  taste,  —  the  backs 
in  the  form  of  a  lyre  with  festoons  of  crimson 
and  yellow  silk;  the  curtains  of  the  room,  a 
festoon  of  the  same;  the  carpet  one  of  Moore's 
most  expensive  patterns.  The  room  was  papered 
in  the  French  taste,  after  the  style  of  the  Vati- 
can at  Rome.  In  the  garden  was  a  profusion  of 
lemon,  orange,  and  citron  trees,  and  many  aloes 
and  other  exotics."  From  the  bill  of  sale  pub- 
lished in  the  United  States  Gazette  of  Nov.  16th, 
1805,  four  years  after  Mrs.  Bingham's  death, 
one  gathers  that  every  elegance  then  known  in 
the  way  of  household  furniture  had  its  place 
in  this  sumptuous  establishment;  and  as  one 
reads  over  the  list  of  arm-chairs,  fire-screens, 


50  ROMANTIC   DAYS 

looking-glasses,  mahogany  sideboards,  busts,  and 
pictures  which  once  formed  the  setting  for  this 
beautiful  woman's  social  success,  it  becomes 
easy  to  picture  her  apartment  on  a  festal  day 
thronged  with  its  galaxy  of  beauties  and  its 
brilliant  public  men  wearing  the  elegant  costume 
of  the  times.  Washington  at  some  such  recep- 
tion was  thus  attired,  according  to  Asbury 
Dickens:  "  He  was  dressed  in  a  full  suit  of  the 
richest  black  velvet;  his  lower  limbs  in  short 
clothes,  with  diamond  knee-buckles  and  black 
silk  stockings.  His  shoes,  which  were  brightly 
japanned,  were  surmounted  with  large  square 
silver  buckles.  His  hair,  carefully  displayed  in 
the  manner  of  the  day,  was  richly  powdered 
and  gathered  behind  into  a  black  silk  bag,  on 
which  was  a  bow  of  black  ribbon.  In  his  hand 
he  held  a  plain  cocked  hat,  decorated  with  the 
American  cockade.  He  wore  by  his  side  a  light 
slender  dress-sword  in  a  green  shagreen  scab- 
bard with  a  richly  ornamented  hilt." 

Thus  at  any  rate  Washington  was  probably 
arrayed  at  his  own  receptions,  very  formal  af- 
fairs held  every  second  Tuesday  between  three 
and  four  in  the  afternoon,  the  "  scene  being 
set  "  by  the  simple  expedient  of  carrying  his 
dining-room  chairs  out  and  so  turning  that  room 
into  a  reception-hall.  But  if  Washington's  house 
was  modest  his  equipage  was  distinctly  impo- 
sing. He  drove  abroad  in  a  big  cream-colored 


IN    THE    EARLY    REPUBLIC      51 

coach  globular  in  shape  and  ornamented  in  the 
French  style  with  cupids  in  scant  but  flowing 
drapery,  and  wreaths  of  flowers  crowning  all. 
A  tall  German  coachman,  "possessing  an  aqui- 
line nose,"  handled  the  reins,  and  the  horses 
were  two  beautiful  long-tailed  Virginia  bays. 
The  President  walked  as  well  as  rode  about 
the  town,  however,  and  was  in  the  habit  of 
strolling  every  day  at  noon  to  set  his  watch  by 
Clark's  standard  at  Front  and  High  Streets, 
gravely  saluting  the  porters  who  uncovered  as 
he  passed.  Great  as  was  his  personal  dignity 
he  had  no  false  pride,  as  some  writers  would 
seem  to  have  us  feel.  Nor  did  he  possess,  either, 
that  exaggerated  sense  of  the  deference  due  to 
him  which  has  tended  to  make  him  so  wooden 
a  figure  to  succeeding  generations. 

On  the  President's  birthday  handsome  par- 
ties were  always  given,  and  Mr.  Isaac  Weld, 
in  his  Travels,  speaks  of  one  birthday,  when 
Washington  received  from  eleven  o'clock  in 
the  morning  until  three  in  the  afternoon  in  the 
large  parlor  of  the  first  floor  of  his  house  in 
Market  Street  between  Fifth  and  Sixth,  while 
Mrs.  Washington  received  in  her  drawing-room 
upstairs.  These  birthday  parties,  which  usu- 
ally ended  in  a  ball,  were  as  eagerly  anticipated 
by  the  belles  of  that  day  as  dancing  parties  are 
now.  Miss  Sarah  Cox,  looking  happily  forward 
to  the  birth-night  ball  to  be  given  President 


52  ROMANTIC   DAYS 

Washington  in  Philadelphia  on  his  anniversary 
of  1797,  says:  '  The  common  topic  of  conver- 
sation here  is  the  Birth  night,  which  is  next 
Wednesday.  ...  I  talk  of  taking  two  pair  of 
shoes  with  me  for  I  danced  one  pair  nearly  out 
at  the  last  Assembly  and  I  am  sure  if  I  could 
do  that  when  it  had  nothing  to  do  with  the 
President,  what  shall  I  do  when  I  have  his 
presence  to  inspire  me." 

Compared  with  such  balls  as  Mrs.  Bingham 
gave,  however,  these  birthday  functions  were 
simplicity  itself.  Her  hospitality  was  as  lavish 
as  it  was  constant  and  it  was  largely  due  to 
her  magnificent  entertainments  that  Philadel- 
phia, at  this  period,  attained  its  very  high  rank 
as  a  social  center.  A  number  of  brilliant  dip- 
lomatic marriages  were  made  during  Washing- 
ton's second  administration,  one  of  the  most 
interesting  being  that  of  the  Spanish  Minister 
to  the  United  States,  the  Sefior  Martinez  de 
Yrujo,  afterwards  created  Marquis  de  Casa 
Yrujo,  to  lovely  Sally  McKean,  one  of  whose 
sprightly  letters  was  quoted  above.  A  contem- 
porary writer  tells  us  that  at  President  John 
Adams's  inauguration  this  Spaniard  wore  "  his 
hair  powdered  like  a  snowball;  with  dark  striped 
silk  coat  lined  with  satin,  black  silk  breeches, 
white  silk  stockings,  shoes,  and  buckles.  He  had 
by  his  side  an  elegant-hilted  small-sword  and  his 
chapeau,  tipped  with  white  feathers,  under  his 


O  .o 


IN    THE    EARLY    REPUBLIC     53 

arm."  One  does  not  wonder  that  Miss  Sally 
succumbed  to  the  charms  of  this  resplendent 
person  whom  she  had  met  at  a  dinner  soon  after 
his  arrival  in  Philadelphia. 

As  it  happens  we  have  a  pen-picture  of  this 
meeting!  For  "  among  the  first  to  arrive," 
a  contemporary  writer  tells  us,  "was  Chief 
Justice  McKean,  accompanied  by  his  lovely 
daughter,  Miss  Sally.  She  wore  a  blue  satin 
dress  trimmed  with  white  crape  and  flowers, 
and  petticoat  of  white  crape  richly  embroid- 
ered, and  across  the  front  a  festoon  of  rose 
colour  caught  up  with  flowers.  The  next  to 
arrive  was  Sefior  Don  Carlos  Martinez  de  Yrujo, 
a  stranger  to  almost  all  the  guests.1  He  spoke 
with  ease  but  with  a  foreign  accent,  and  was 
soon  lost  in  amazement  at  the  beauty  and  grace 
of  Miss  McKean.  .  .  .  The  acquaintance  thus 
commenced,  resulted  in  the  marriage  of  Miss 
McKean  to  Senor  Martinez  de  Yrujo  at  Phila- 
delphia, April  10,  1798." 

The  Honorable  Samuel  Breck,  to  whose 
Reminiscences  we  are  indebted  for  many  racy 
accounts  of  people  and  happenings  in  the  Phil- 
adelphia of  this  period,  was  a  warm  friend  of 
the  Binghams,  and  by  reason  of  his  foreign  edu- 
cation was  able  to  be  of  considerable  social 
service  to  this  gifted  hostess  when  the  Due  de 

1  The  winter  preceding  his  marriage  De  Yrujo  resided  at  315 
High  Street. 


54  ROMANTIC    DAYS 

Rochefoucauld-Liancourt,  the  ecclesiastical  dip- 
lomat Talleyrand  and  other  Frenchmen  of  simi- 
lar distinction  were  there  entertained.  Not  that 
Mrs.  Bingham  herself  was  in  any  way  unequal 
to  the  situation!  From  a  letter  sent  her  by 
Thomas  Jefferson,  then  still  abroad,  we  see  that 
salon  life  in  France  was  perfectly  familiar  to  her. 
Jefferson,  in  this  letter,  appears  to  be  rallying 
her,  indeed,  on  her  previously  expressed  fond- 
ness for  it.  '  Tell  me  truly  and  honestly,"  he 
urges,  "  do  you  not  find  the  tranquil  pleasures 
of  America  preferable  to  the  empty  bustle  of 
Paris?  For  to  what  does  that  bustle  tend?  At 
eleven  o'clock  it  is  day,  chez  madame.  The  cur- 
tains are  drawn.  Propped  on  bolsters  and  pil- 
lows and  her  head  scratched  into  a  little  order, 
the  bulletins  of  the  sick  are  read  and  the  billets 
of  the  well.  She  writes  to  some  of  her  acquaint- 
ances and  receives  the  visits  of  others. 

"  If  the  morning  is  not  very  thronged,  she 
is  able  to  get  out  and  hobble  around  the  cage 
of  the  Palais  Royal;  but  she  must  hobble 
quickly,  for  the  coiffeur's  turn  is  come;  and  a 
tremendous  turn  it  is!  Happy,  if  he  does  not 
make  her  arrive  when  dinner  is  half  over!  The 
torpitude  of  digestion  a  little  passed,  she  flutters 
half  an  hour  through  the  streets,  by  way  of 
paying  visits,  and  then  to  the  spectacles.  These 
finished,  another  half  hour  is  devoted  to  dodging 
in  and  out  of  the  doors  of  her  very  sincere  friends, 


IN    THE    EARLY   REPUBLIC      55 

and  away  to  supper.  After  supper,  cards;  and 
after  cards,  bed;  to  rise  at  noon  the  next  day 
and  to  tread,  like  a  mill-horse,  the  same  trodden 
circle  over  again.  ...  If  death  or  bankruptcy 
happen  to  trip  us  out  of  the  circle,  it  is  matter 
for  the  buzz  of  the  evening  and  is  completely 
forgotten  by  the  next  morning. 

"  In  America,  on  the  other  hand,  the  society 
of  your  husband,  the  fond  cares  of  the  children, 
the  arrangements  of  the  house,  the  improve- 
ments of  the  grounds,  fill  every  moment  with  a 
healthy  and  a  useful  activity.  .  .  .  The  inter- 
vals of  leisure  are  filled  with  the  society  of  real 
friends,  whose  affections  are  not  thinned  to  a 
cobweb  by  being  spread  over  a  thousand  ob- 
jects. This  is  the  picture  in  the  light  it  is  pre- 
sented to  my  mind." 

How  accurately  he  had  sketched  Mrs.  Bing- 
ham's  manner  of  life  in  America  Jefferson  soon 
had  opportunity  to  learn,  for,  upon  his  return  to 
his  native  land,  he  was  often  at  her  home.  His 
own  home,  at  this  period,  was  in  the  country  l 
near  Gray's  Ferry  and  he  often  speaks  of  wander- 
ing on  the  banks  of  the  Schuylkill,  with  his 
younger  daughter,  Maria,  who  was  in  the  habit 
of  spending  her  Sundays  out  of  doors  with  him. 

1  The  limits  of  Philadelphia  at  the  time  of  Washington's  admin- 
istration were  very  narrow  in  comparison  with  those  of  to-day. 
Front,  Second,  Third  and  Fourth  Streets,  on  the  Delaware  side, 
were  its  principal  avenues,  and  it  did  not  from  any  point  extend 
much  west  of  Sixth  Street. 


56  ROMANTIC   DAYS 

His  life  was  not  then  marked  by  the  extreme 
simplicity  which  afterwards  came  to  be  asso- 
ciated with  his  name;  he  kept  five  horses  and  had 
four  or  five  men-servants  in  his  establishment 
in  addition  to  his  French  steward,  Petit,  and  his 
daughter's  maid. 

The  country-place  par  excellence  of  the  early 
Republican  Philadelphia  was,  however,  that  of 
Robert  Morris.  It  was  called  "The  Hills," 
and  Mrs.  Drinker,  in  her  Diary,  writes  of  her 
daughter  and  her  young  friends  having  gone  to 
see  its  greenhouse  as  one  of  the  sights  of  the 
town.  Samuel  Breck,  in  his  Recollections,  says, 
'  There  was  a  luxury  in  the  kitchen,  table,  par- 
lour and  street  equipage  of  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Morris 
that  was  to  be  found  nowhere  else  in  America. 
Bingham's  was  more  gaudy  but  less  comfortable. 
It  was  the  pure  and  unalloyed  which  the  Morrises 
sought  to  place  before  their  friends,  without  the 
abatements  that  so  frequently  accompany  the 
displays  of  fashionable  life.  No  badly-cooked 
or  cold  dinners  at  their  table;  no  pinched  fires 
upon  their  hearths;  no  paucity  of  waiters;  no 
awkward  loons  in  their  drawing-rooms.  .  .  . 
We  have  no  such  establishments  now.  God  in 
his  mercy  gives  us  plenty  of  provisions  but  it 
would  seem  as  if  the  devil  possessed  the  cooks." 
Morris's  city  residence,  after  he  had  given  up 
the  Richard  Penn  house  to  Washington,  was 
at  the  comer  of  Sixth  and  Market  Streets. 


IN    THE    EARLY    REPUBLIC     57 

Washington  was  often  here  to  drink  tea,  for  of 
Mrs.  Morris  as  of  Mrs.  Bingham  he  was  very 
fond.  These  two  ladies  shared  with  Mrs. 
Walter  Stewart  the  distinction  of  being  sent 
portraits  of  the  first  President  at  the  time  of 
his  retirement  from  public  life. 

Mrs.  Stewart  was  a  charming  Irish  beauty, 
the  daughter  of  Blair  McClenachen,  a  retired 
merchant  of  great  wealth,  who  had  purchased 
the  Chews'  celebrated  place  at  Germantown. 
So  much  did  Washington  admire  Mrs.  Stewart 
that  he  made  .one  of  his  rare  jokes  for  her  bene- 
fit. When  she  and  her  husband,  who  had  been 
a  colonel  in  the  Continental  Army,  were  sailing 
for  Europe  in  1785  Washington  wrote  his  former 
companion-in-arms:  "  Mrs.  Washington  joins 
me  in  wishing  you  a  good  and  prosperous  voy- 
age and  in  compliments  to  Mrs.  Stewart.  Tell 
her  if  she  don't  think  of  me  often,  I  shall  not 
easily  forgive  her  and  will  scold  her  and  beat 
her  —  soundly  too  —  at  piquet  the  next  time 
I  see  her." 

Tea-drinking  was  a  regular  dissipation  of 
those  days,  and  Washington  seems  heartily  to 
have  enjoyed  this  diversion  at  the  homes  of 
his  friends.  Other  public  men  who  came  over 
here  fell  easily  into  this  social  habit  also;  from 
the  Prince  de  Broglie's  description  of  his  first 
tea-drinking  here  in  August,  1782  (Mrs.  Morris 
being  his  hostess),  we  learn  that  it  was  the 


58>  ROMANTIC   DAYS 

custom  of  the  time  to  put  the  spoon  across  the 
cup  when  the  desire  was  "  to  bring  this  warm 
water  question  to  an  end."  Unhappily,  how- 
ever, the  prince  was  not  informed  of  this  bit  of 
etiquette  until  he  had  already  drunk  twelve 
cups  of  tea!  Perhaps  it  was  because  people 
consumed  such  immense  quantities  of  tea,  among 
other  things,  that  the  cost  of  living  was  so  high 
in  the  Philadelphia  of  this  period.  Abigail 
Adams,  in  one  of  her  letters  in  1790,  declared: 
'  Every  article  has  become  almost  double  in 
price."  And  in  the  documents  and  diaries  of 
the  time  there  is  constant  complaint  about  the 
exceedingly  high  cost  of  everything.  Prices  which 
had  become  inflated  during  the  Revolution, 
owing  to  the  depreciation  of  the  currency,  were 
appallingly  slow  in  getting  down  again  to  their 
normal  level. 

The  letters  from  Mrs.  Bache  to  her  father, 
Dr.  Franklin,  when  he  was  our  Minister  to 
France,  give  us  a  vivid  insight  into  this:  "If 
I  was  to  mention  the  prices  of  the  common  neces- 
saries of  life,  it  would  astonish  you,"  she  writes. 
"  I  should  tell  you  that  I  had  seven  table-cloths 
of  my  own  spinning,  chiefly  wove  before  we  left 
Chester  County;  it  was  what  we  were  spinning 
when  you  went.  I  find  them  very  useful,  and 
they  look  very  well,  but  they  now  ask  four  times 
as  much  for  weaving  as  they  used  to  ask  for  the 
linen.  ...  I  am  going  to  write  cousin  Jonathan 


IN    THE    EARLY    REPUBLIC      59 

Williams  to  purchase  me  linen  for  common 
sheets  .  .  .  they  really  ask  me  six  dollars  for 
a  pair  of  gloves,  and  I  have  been  obliged  to  pay 
fifteen  pounds  fifteen  shillings  for  a  common 
calamanco  petticoat  without  quilting  that  I 
once  could  have  got  for  fifteen  shillings.  I  buy 
nothing  but  what  I  really  want  and  wore  out 
my  silk  ones  before  I  got  this."  1  In  another 
letter  she  writes:  '  The  present  you  sent  me 
this  month  two  years,  I  received  a  few  weeks 
ago;  'tis  a  prize  indeed.  It  came  open,  without 
direction  or  letter,  and  has  come  through  three 
or  four  hands.  I  have  received  six  pairs  of 
gloves,  nine  papers  of  needles,  a  bundle  of  thread 
and  five  papers  of  pins.  .  .  .  The  last  person 
to  whose  care  they  were  given  left  them  at  a 
hair-dresser's  with  directions  not  to  send  them 
to  me  till  he  was  gone.  Their  being  all  open 
makes  me  suspect  I  have  not  all;  what  I  have 
received  makes  me  rich.  I  thought  them  long 
ago  in  the  enemies'  hands.  The  prices  of  every- 
thing here  are  so  much  raised  that  it  takes  a 
fortune  to  feed  a  family  in  a  very  plain  way :  a 
pair  of  gloves  7  dollars,  one  yard  of  common 
gauze  24  dollars,  and  there  never  was  so  much 
pleasure  and  dressing  going  on ;  old  friends  meet- 
ing again,  the  Whigs  in  high  spirits,  and  stran- 
gers of  distinction  among  us.  .  .  .1  have 

1  Letters  to  Benjamin  Franklin  from  his  Family   and   Friends, 
1751-1790,  New  York,  1859. 


60  ROMANTIC   DAYS 

dined  at  the  Minister's  .  .  .  and  have  lately 
been  several  times  invited  abroad  with  the 
General  and  Mrs.  Washington.  He  always  in- 
quires after  you  in  the  most  affectionate  manner 
and  speaks  of  you  highly.  We  danced  at  Mrs. 
Powell's  your  birthday,  or  night  I  should  say, 
in  company  together,  and  he  told  me  it  was  the 
anniversary  of  his  marriage;  it  was  just  twenty 
years  that  night. 

"  My  boy  and  girl  are  in  health.  The  latter 
has  ten  teeth,  can  dance,  sing  and  make  faces, 
tho'  she  cannot  talk,  except  the  words  no  and 
be  done,  which  she  makes  great  use  of." 

Franklin's  reply  is  amusing  to  those  who  re- 
flect how  well  the  old  gentleman  was  enjoying 
himself  in  France.  "  I  was  charmed,"  he  de- 
clares, "  with  the  account  you  gave  me  of  your 
industry,  the  tablecloths  of  your  own  spinning 
and  so  on;  but  the  latter  part  of  the  paragraph, 
that  you  had  sent  for  linen  from  France  because 
weaving  and  flax  were  grown  dear,  alas!  that 
dissolved  the  charm;  and  your  sending  for  long 
black  pins,  and  lace  and  feathers!  disgusted  me 
as  much  as  if  you  had  put  salt  into  my  straw- 
berries. The  spinning,  I  see,  is  laid  aside,  and 
you  are  to  be  dressed  for  the  ball !  You  seem  not 
to  know,  my  dear  daughter,  that,  of  all  the 
dear  things  in  this  world,  idleness  is  the  dearest, 
except  mischief.  .  .  .  When  I  began  to  read 
your  account  of  the  high  prices  of  goods  ...  I 


IN    THE    EARLY    REPUBLIC      61 

expected  you  would  conclude  with  telling  me, 
that  everybody  as  well  as  yourself  was  grown 
frugal  and  industrious;  and  I  could  scarce  be- 
lieve my  eyes,  in  reading  forward,  '  that  there 
never  was  so  much  pleasure  and  dressing  going 
on; '  and  that  you  yourself  wanted  black  pins 
and  feathers  from  France  to  appear,  I  suppose, 
in  the  mode!  This  leads  me  to  imagine,  that 
perhaps  it  is  not  so  much  that  the  goods  are 
grown  dear  as  that  money  is  grown  cheap." 
Characteristically,  Franklin  had  hit  the  mark. 
And,  also  characteristically,  he  then  proceeds  to 
send  his  daughter  only  the  necessary  articles  for 
which  she  had  asked,  tagging  thereto  these  terse 
observations:  "If  you  wear  [out]  your  cambric 
ruffles  as  I  do  and  take  care  not  to  mend  the 
holes,  they  will  come  in  time  to  be  lace;  and 
feathers,  my  dear  girl,  —  they  may  be  had  in 
America  from  every  cock's  tail."  1 

A  very  famous  Philadelphia  institution,  which 
dates  from  1799  and  of  which  one  is  reminded 
as  one  speaks  of  the  great  Franklin,  was  the 
salon  for  gentlemen,  long  held  informally,  on 
Sunday  nights,  under  the  hospitable  High  Street 
roof  of  that  other  distinguished  American  scien- 
tist, Dr.  Caspar  Wistar.  These  gatherings  were 
destined  to  grow  into  the  celebrated  Wistar 
parties,  expanding,  in  the  course  of  years,  from 
a  few  guests  to  a  large  club,  from  the  friendliness 

1  Works  of  Franklin,  Sparks,  Vol.  VIII,  p.  374. 


62  ROMANTIC  DAYS 

of  Sunday  evenings  to  the  more  formal  elegance 
of  Saturdays,  and  from  the  cakes  and  wine  no 
company  of  men  ever  found  satisfying,  to  such 
"  real  food  "  as  is  consumed  today  at  club  gather- 
ings. In  1811  ice-cream,  nuts  and  raisins  con- 
stituted the  "  refreshments,"  but  following  the 
more  formal  organization  of  the  Philosophical 
Society,  after  the  death  of  Dr.  Wistar  in  1818, 
these  airy  trifles  were  abandoned  for  all  time 
and  the  club  began  to  gain  that  reputation 
for  excellent  and  substantial  dinners  which 
made  so  deep  an  impression  upon  Thackeray 
at  the  time  of  his  American  visit.  It  was  in 
honor  of  Dr.  Wistar  that  Thomas  Nuttall 
called  the  luxuriant  vine,  with  its  graceful 
clusters  of  purple  flowers,  now  known  the  world 
over  as  wistaria.  Dr.  Wistar's  country-seat 
was  in  Germantown. 

How  so  many  Philadelphians  who  enter- 
tained largely  could  at  this  period  live  for  any 
length  of  time  each  year  "  out  of  town  "  is  a 
puzzle.  For  the  streets  were  in  a  shocking  con- 
dition and  for  a  long  while  there  were  few  car- 
riages.1 Even  as  late  as  1797,  if  one  may  trust 
the  figures  given  in  the  Travels  of  William  Priest, 
there  were  only  eight  hundred  and  six  two  and 
four  wheel  pleasure  carriages  in  the  whole  city! 
Nor  was  walking  a  very  popular  means  of  trans- 

1  Watson  mentions  a  Philadelphia  belle  who  went  to  a  ball  in  full 
dress  on  horseback. 


IN    THE    EARLY   REPUBLIC      63 

portation,  a  fact  the  less  to  be  wondered  at  when 
one  learns  that,  until  the  dawn  of  the  nineteenth 
century,  absolutely  no  distinction  was  made  by 
shoemakers  between  the  right  and  left  feet.  A 
certain  William  Young,  who  lived  at  128  Chest- 
nut Street,  claimed  to  have  introduced  this  valu- 
able improvement  about  1800,  and  sometime 
afterwards  his  spouse  promised  that  she  would 
"  by  the  direction  of  her  husband,  cause  her 
sex  also  to  have  right  and  left  feet,  —  to  stand 
and  walk  with  facility  and  ease  and  pleasure. 
Why  should  not  they  be  at  ease  as  well  as  the 
gentlemen?  "  she  demands. 

This  early  nineteenth  century  Philadelphia, 
had  a  shifting  charm  and  alluring  quaintness  of 
its  own  which  was  by  no  American  writer  more 
truly  appreciated  than  by  Washington  Irving. 
And  although,  from  the  very  nature  of  things, 
Irving  is  more  closely  associated  with  old  New 
York  than  with  any  other  city,  his  memory  is 
enduringly  linked  to  the  history  of  Philadel- 
phia, also,  because  Philadelphia  was  the  home 
of  Rebecca  Gratz,  whom  Scott,  through  Irving, 
has  made  immortal  as  the  "  Rebecca  "  of  Ivan- 
hoe. 

The  tender  affection  which  existed  between 
Irving  and  Rebecca  Gratz  was  largely  owing  to 
the  fact  that  the  Philadelphia  Jewess  had  been 
the  lifelong  friend  of  Matilda  Hoffman,1  Irving's 

1  Miss  Hoffman,  was  a  relative,  too,  of  Charles  Jones  Fenno. 


64  ROMANTIC   DAYS 

first,  last,  and  only  love.  Miss  Hoffman  died 
in  April,  1809,  at  the  age  of  eighteen,  Miss  Gratz, 
who  was  ten  years  her  senior,  holding  her  ten- 
derly in  her  arms.  Irving  was  then  twenty-six 
and  he  suffered  poignantly.  It  happened  that 
Rebecca  Gratz  had  undergone  a  similar  experi- 
ence, for  she  had  lost  through  a  drowning  acci- 
dent Charles  Jones  Fenno,  a  young  Christian 
whom  she  loved  and  who  devotedly  loved  her. 
Inasmuch  as  several  members  of  her  family  had 
already  intermarried  with  the  Clays,  the  Schuy- 
lers,  and  other  Gentile  families,  it  would  not  have 
been  strange  if  this  exquisite  maiden  with  the 
lustrous  black  eyes  had  followed  their  example. 
But  she  refused  Fenno  in  life,  and  after  his  death 
steadfastly  said  "  no  "  to  the  ardent  wooing  of 
many  other  Christians  because  she  considered 
herself  spiritually  his.  Yet  she  continued  to  be 
the  warm  friend  of  the  men  and  women  of  her 
lover's  race  and  throughout  her  long  life 
(she  lived  to  be  very  old)  was  tenderly  cher- 
ished by  all  those  so  fortunate  as  to  know  her 
well. 

The  Gratz  family  mansion  in  Philadelphia  was 
known  far  and  wide  as  the  center  of  a  refined 
and  elegant  hospitality.  Rebecca's  brother, 
Hyman,  was  the  founder  of  the  Pennsylvania 
Academy  of  Fine  Arts,  and  with  him  the  lovely 
girl  was  wont  to  travel  south  in  winter  and  to 
Saratoga  Springs  in  summer  always  as  the  center 


IN    THE    EARLY    REPUBLIC      65 

of  an  admiring  circle.  Irving  came  often  to  be 
their  guest,  and  through  him  it  was  that 
Thomas  Sully,  the  painter,  made  Rebecca's 
acquaintance.  Sully  painted  a  portrait  of  her 
which  is  said  to  be  one  of  his  most  success- 
ful works.  Malbone,  also,  did  a  miniature  of 
her. 

Very  interesting  personal  recollections  of  Re- 
becca Gratz  have  come  to  me  from  Mrs.  Tudor 
Hart,  who,  when  she  was  about  eight  years  old, 
went  with  her  sister  Delia  Tudor  (afterwards 
Mrs.  Skip  with  Wilmer  of  Baltimore)  and  their 
mother,  to  visit  Miss  Gratz.  "  My  mother," 
says  my  informant,  "  was  the  niece  of  Charles 
Fenno,  and  Miss  Gratz's  greeting  to  her  was 
unforgettably  touching  in  its  tenderness  and 
affection.  Miss  Gratz  had  a  dignity  of  bearing 
quite  royal  in  its  aspect,  although  one  felt  it  to 
be  entirely  natural  and  not  assumed.  Her  in- 
dividuality was  of  such  charm  that  it  would  be 
quite  impossible  for  any  one  who  had  ever  had 
the  privilege  of  meeting  her  to  forget  the  expe- 
rience. Her  manner  to  my  mother  was  very 
beautiful.  With  an  indescribable  tenderness 
(as  to  an  own  and  dearly  loved  niece)  she  put 
her  arm  about  her  at  meeting,  kissed  her  most 
affectionately,  and  said  *  Well,  my  dear,  how 
are  you?  '  The  words  are  not  so  much  in  them- 
selves, but  to  even  a  child  on-looker  they  seemed 
to  mean  everything  that  was  most  intimately 


66 

affectionate  and  real.  Moreover,  those  were  not 
the  days  when  one  was  more  or  less  hugged  and 
'  my  deared  '  by  nearly  everybody.  Times  have 
changed;  one  is  now  quite  likely  to  be  '  my 
deared  '  by  the  first  strange  shop-lady  of  whom 
one  asks  the  price  of  a  pair  of  stockings  in  any 
big  department  store!  I  do  not  say  modern 
customs  may  not  be  in  some  respects  better  — 
but  they  are  certainly  different. 

"  Miss  Gratz,  who  was  then  seventy  and  who 
had  not  seen  for  many  years  this  niece  of  her 
long-deceased  lover,  met  my  mother  as  one 
genuinely  very  near  and  dear  to  her,  greeting 
her  as  though,  since  their '  meeting,  there  had 
been  but  a  short  lapse  of  time.  The  effect  upon 
me,  even  as  a  young  child,  of  her  abiding  affec- 
tion was  extraordinary.  Her  personality,  too, 
was,  as  I  say,  of  a  kind  never  to  be  forgotten. 
In  stature  she  impressed  one  as  being  very  tall, 
but  whether  this  came  from  the  fact  that  she 
was  so  in  reality,  or  because  of  her  extreme 
erectness  and  dignity  of  bearing,  I  cannot  say. 
I  remember,  however,  that  on  the  day  we  dined 
with  her  and  spent  the  evening  at  her  house  I 
was  immensely  impressed,  as  she  preceded  us 
to  the  dining-room,  with  her  arrow-like  erect- 
ness  as  well  as  with  the  more  than  sylph -like 
trimness  of  her  waist-line.  Her  whole  appear- 
ance and  bearing  were  not  those  of  an  aged  or 
even  middle-aged  woman,  but  of  an  ideal  girl 


IN    THE    EARLY    REPUBLIC      67 

princess.  Her  eyes  were  large,  singularly  power- 
ful, and  of  piercing  radiance;  yet  they  had 
withal  a  mellow  softness  indescribably  affect- 
ing to  the  beholder.  Her  complexion  at  that 
time  was  of  a  darkish  and  yet  clear  pallor  — 
like  the  tint  on  the  leaf  of  a  pressed  tea 
rose. 

"  She  was  dressed  in  a  very  plain  gown  with- 
out ornament  of  any  sort.  Her  hair  was,  or 
impressed  one  as  being,  of  an  intense  blackness. 
Now  I  had  not  been  '  primed  up  '  when  taken 
to  see  Miss  Gratz.  I  am  not  sure  that  my  sister 
and  I  even  knew  then  that  she  was  at  all  a  re- 
markable person.  We  did  know,  I  think,  that 
she  was  a  Jewish  lady  of  wealth  and  good  family 
who,  although  greatly  attached  to  my  great- 
uncle  (who  had  died  in  early  youth)  and  he  to 
her,  steadily  refused  marriage  with  him  because 
of  their  difference  in  religion.  We  knew,  also, 
that,  when  she  heard  he  could  not  live,  she  went 
at  once  to  him  and  nursed  him  faithfully  un- 
til his  death  and  that  they  (my  great-uncle 
and  she)  had  before  this  made  a  binding  and 
solemn  mutual  agreement  to  devote  their  lives 
to  good  works  and  to  the  memory  of  their  ill- 
starred  love. 

'  The  whole  story,  as  my  mother  had  heard  it, 
we  were  told  later.  Her  uncle,  Charles  Fenno, 
and  Rebecca  Gratz  had  loved  —  not  as  in  these 
modern  days,  as  it  were  between  flights  in  an 


68  ROMANTIC   DAYS 

aeroplane  from  one  divorce  court  to  another, 
—  but  as  in  those  days  when  people  had  time 
to  form  character  and  loved  as  they  builded 
homes,  —  to  have  them  last.  True  love  was 
then  felt  to  be  too  great  and  too  real  a  thing  to 
fill  anything  less  than  a  lifetime.  Miss  Gratz 
always  considered  that  there  was  a  spiritual 
marriage;  consequently  the  relatives  of  Charles 
Fenno  were  ever  to  her  as  her  own  people  and 
were  treated  as  such.  When  Julia  Hoffman,  a 
cousin  of  Charles  Fenno's,  was  unexpectedly 
left  destitute  at  her  parent's  death,  Miss  Gratz 
immediately  took  her  into  her  own  home,  where 
she  was  always  treated  as  a  real  relative  would 
have  been.  This  fact  it  may  have  been  which 
gave  rise  to  the  report  that  there  had  been  a 
marriage  —  a  thing  my  mother,  who  must  have 
known,  always  denied. 

"  Now,  as  to  the  manner  of  Charles  Fenno's 
death.  He  perished,  when  twenty-three,  as  a 
result  of  almost  fabulously  great  exertions 
made,  during  a  shipwreck,  in  the  effort  to  save 
the  life  of  a  lady  who  was  of  no  interest  to  him 
save  for  the  fact  that  she  was  a  woman  and  one 
whom  no  one  else  could  or  would  risk  trying  to 
save.  He  was  then  put  on  shore  to  die.  Life 
had,  however,  become  of  virtually  no  value  to 
him,  I  feel.  Having  had  the  privilege  of  seeing 
Miss  Gratz,  I  can  quite  understand  that  a  man 
who  had  missed  the  happiness  of  a  union  with 


IN    THE    EARLY    REPUBLIC      69 

her  could  feel  little  joy  in  the  prospect  of  a  long 
life  spent  without  her." 

A  particularly  tragic  element  in  the  renun- 
ciation of  these  two  noble  souls  is  brought  out 
by  the  fact  that  certain  members  of  the  Fenno 
family  have  since  believed  that  their  line,  too, 
was  of  Jewish  origin!  "Had  they  then  been 
able  to  prove  this,"  declares  Mrs.  Hart  (who 
seems  herself  quite  to  support  the  idea),  "  the 
fact  that  some  individuals  in  the  family  had 
incidentally  embraced  Christianity  would  have 
been  no  real  bar,  even  in  Miss  Gratz's  mind, 
to  her  own  union  with  Mr.  Fenno.  For  it  is 
first  and  foremost  the  race  amalgamation  which 
the  religion  of  the  Jew  teaches  him  is  the  abom- 
ination of  abominations  in  marriage  and  as  such 
never  to  be  entered  into. 

"  Altogether,  a  study  of  Miss  Gratz's  charac- 
ter is  a  peculiarly  fascinating  one  —  and  also 
an  illuminating  one  to  many  persons  —  the 
generality  of  people  having  no  conception  of  the 
unusually  strong  spiritual  side  to  some  persons 
of  pure  Jewish  origin,  and  this  in  spite  of  the 
fact  that  these  high  traits  of  character  are  by  no 
means  unusual  among  Hebrews  of  refined  or 
exalted  birth.  George  Eliot  (Mrs.  Lewes),  who 
knew  many  Jews,  has  clearly  shown  this  in 
describing  characters  such  as  that  of  Daniel 
Deronda." 

The  quiet  elegance  of  life  in  Miss  Gratz's 


70  ROMANTIC    DAYS 

home  made  a  deep  impression  upon  the  child. 
"  I  remember  the  exceedingly  nice  table  ap- 
pointments," she  says,  "  the  good  training  of 
the  servants,  the  style  —  though  without  os- 
tentation —  in  which  everything  was  served. 
The  dinner  was  a  late  one,  too,  a  custom  then 
almost  unheard  of  in  American  families,  save 
in  a  few  of  the  most  exclusive  and  the  wealthi- 
est, and  there  was  a  butler  to  wait  on  table. 
One  of  the  dishes  was  a  sirloin  roast  of  beef  with 
shredded  horse  radish  on  top  as  served  in  Eng- 
land, and  I  remember  how  particularly  delicious 
as  well  as  tender  the  beef  was.  I  mention  this 
because  I  have  so  generally  heard  that  all  roast 
or  boiled  meats  served  by  Jews  are  unpalatably 
tough.  Another  thing  I  had  never  seen  before, 
and  which  particularly  charmed  me  in  Miss 
Gratz's  house,  was  the  serving  of  fruit  after 
dinner  in  the  drawing-room,  to  which  it  was 
brought  by  the  butler,  very  daintily  set  out  and 
arranged  on  a  tray,  in  a  way  I  had  never  then 
seen  although  our  family  was  supposed  to  lead 
in  Boston  l  in  matters  of  luxury  in  table  and 
other  household  appointments.  The  serving 
of  the  fruit  in  the  drawing-room  may  not  have 
been  a  customary  thing  with  Miss  Gratz,  how- 
ever, but  a  tactful  expedient  for  breaking  the 

1  For  a  considerable  account  of  the  Tudor  family,  together  with 
pictures  of  Charles  Jones  Fenno  and  Rebecca  Gratz,  see  my  Old 
Boston  Days  and  Ways. 


IN    THE    EARLY    REPUBLIC      71 

tedium  of  a  long  dinner  to  those  two  of 
her  guests  who  were  children.1  It  would 
have  been  like  her  to  have  devised  some 
such  plan  to  cater  to  the  restlessness  of  the 
young." 

Though  the  story  of  the  way  in  which  Re- 
becca Gratz  of  Philadelphia  came  to  be  Scott's 
"  Rebecca  "  has  often  been  told,  it  seems  of 
sufficient  interest  to  be  here  repeated.  Scott 
and  Irving  met  for  the  first  time  in  the  fall  of 
the  year  1817,  Scott  being  then  forty-six  and 
in  the  brilliancy  of  his  early  fame,  and  Irving 
thirty -four  with  a  fast  increasing  literary  repu- 
tation. They  became  warmly  attached  to  each 
other,  their  conversation  in  due  time  turning,  as 
even  men's  conversation  occasionally  does,  to 
personal  affairs.  Irving  spoke  of  Miss  Hoffman 
and  of  the  Jewish  friend  who  had  often  visited 
her  in  New  York.  He  described  the  latter's 
wonderful  beauty,  related  the  story  of  her  firm 
adherence  to  her  religion,  and  dwelt,  as  he  well 
might,  on  her  sweet  and  unselfish  character. 
Scott  was  deeply  interested  and  immediately 
decided  to  introduce  a  Jewish  female  character 
into  Ivanhoe,  the  plot  for  which  was  then  just 

1  Miss  Gratz  had  brought  up  the  two  orphan  children  of  her 
sister,  Rachel  Gratz  Moses,  a  boy,  and  the  girl  who  afterward  married 
a  Mr.  Joseph  in  Canada  and  whose  English  grandson,  some  years 
ago,  became  Mrs.  Tudor  Hart's  son-in-law.  Thus  a  marriage 
actually  took  place,  eventually,  between  two  collateral  descendants. 
of  the  severed  lovers. 


72  ROMANTIC   DAYS 

shaping  itself  in  his  mind.  The  book  was  fin- 
ished in  December,  1819,  and  the  first  copy  was 
sent  to  Irving.  With  it  went  a  letter  asking 
"  How  do  you  like  your  Rebecca?  Does  the 
Rebecca  I  have  pictured  compare  well  with  the 
pattern  given?  "  Miss  Gratz  quite  understood 
that  she  was  the  source  of  the  character,  a  rela- 
tive of  hers l  asserts,  but  she  always  deftly 
changed  the  subject  when  allusion  was  made  to 
the  matter. 

1  Gratz  Van  Rensselaer  in  the  Century  Magazine  of  September, 
1882. 


CHAPTER  II 

NEW   YORK 

'  T  F  there  is  a  town  on  the  American  conti- 
nent  where   English    luxury   displays   its 
follies  it  is  New  York.    In  the  dress  of 
the  women  you  will  see  the  most  brilliant  silks, 
gauzes,  hats  and  borrowed  hair.  .  .  .  The  men 
take  their  revenge  in  the  luxury  of  the  table." 
Which  might,  though  penned  so  long  ago,1  be 
a  somewhat  unkind  characterization  of  the  New 
York  of  our  own  day! 

Samuel  Breck,  however,  though  he  wrote 
of  almost  the  same  time,  gives  us  quite  a  differ- 
ent picture.  "As  a  colonial  town  it  was  a 
place  of  considerable  trade,"  he  says,  "but  we 
found  it  then  [in  1787]  a  place  of  dilapidation. 
Having  been  in  the  hands  of  the  enemy  for 
seven  years  and  visited  during  that  time  by  an 
extensive  conflagration  ...  it  had  not  at  all 
recovered  from  the  effects  of  the  war.  New 
York  in  1787  was  but  a  poor  place  with  about 
twenty-three  thousand  people.  We  anchored 
opposite  a  filthy  little  wooden  shed  called  the 

1  By  Brissot  de  Warville  in  1788. 


74  ROMANTIC    DAYS 

• 

Fly  Market,  and  when  our  boat  reached  the 
shore  we  had  to  climb  up  a  wharf  that  was 
tumbling  to  pieces.  Some  twenty  or  thirty 
vessels  lay  at  the  other  wharfs,  and  these  shores 
that  now  exhibit  a  forest  of  masts  and  a  stir 
of  commerce  surpassed  in  the  whole  world  by 
two  cities  only  [Mr.  Breck  was  writing  about 
1830  and  his  allusion  is  to  London  and  Liver- 
pool] were  then  naked  and  silent." 

Happily,  New  York,  then  as  now,  had  tre- 
mendous faith  in  its  future  greatness;  and  this 
faith  it  was  which  enabled  it  so  quickly  to 
rebuild  itself  and  so  impressively  to  enlarge 
its  commerce  that,  in  spite  of  its  deficiencies 
and  limitations,  it  seemed  the  logical  place  in 
which  to  establish  the  nation's  capital.  Soon 
after  1785  stage  lines  had  begun  to  connect  the 
city  with  Albany,  Boston,  and  Philadelphia, 
and  though  the  journey  from  the  New  England 
capital  occupied  six  days,  traveling  from  three 
o'clock  in  the  morning  until  ten  at  night  (!)  a 
good  many  people  essayed  the  trip,  and  business 
at  New  York  grew  apace. 

Taverns  naturally  played  an  important  part 
in  the  life  of  that  staging  day,  one  of  the  most 
interesting  being  Fraunces'  Tavern,  at  the  south- 
east corner  of  Pearl  and  Broad  Streets,  a  hos- 
telry which,  though  it  has  been,  since  1904, 
the  property  of  the  Sons  of  the  Revolution, 
still  welcomes  guests  for  excellent  dinners  just 


FRAUNCES'  TAVERN  IN  1867.      IN  ITS  LONG  ROOM  WASHINGTON  TOOK  HIS 
FAMOUS   FAREWELL   OF   HIS   OFFICERS. 


THE    ATHENAEUM   WASHINGTON   OF   STUART. 
From  the  original  in  the  Boston  Museum  of  Fine  Arts. 


IN    THE    EARLY   REPUBLIC      75 

as  it  did  in  Colonial  days.  Here  it  was  that 
Washington  took  his  famous  farewell  of  his 
officers.  The  scene  of  this  historic  occurrence 
was  in  the  "  Long  Room  "  of  the  Tavern  on 
the  second  floor  and  the  time  was  December  4, 
1783,  ten  days  after  the  defeated  British  army 
had  marched  sullenly  down  Broadway  to  take 
their  departure  by  boats. 

General  Washington  rode  to  the  Tavern  on 
horseback,  and  "  we  had  been  assembled  but 
a  few  moments,"  says  Col.  Benjamin  Talmadge 
in  his  Memoirs,  "  when  his  Excellency  entered 
the  room.  His  emotion,  too  strong  to  be  con- 
cealed, seemed  to  be  reproduced  by  every  officer 
present.  After  partaking  of  a  slight  refreshment 
in  almost  breathless  silence,  the  General  rilled 
his  glass  with  wine  and,  turning  to  the  officers, 
said  with  a  heart  full  of  love  and  gratitude, 
'  I  now  take  leave  of  you.  I  most  devoutly 
wish  that  your  latter  days  may  be  as  prosperous 
and  as  happy  as  your  former  ones  have  been 
glorious  and  honourable.'  After  the  officers 
had  taken  a  glass  of  wine,  the  General  added, 
*  I  cannot  come  to  each  of  you,  but  shall  be 
obliged  if  each  of  you  will  come  and  take  me 
by  the  hand.'  General  Knox  being  nearest 
to  him,  turned  to  the  Commander  in  Chief,  who, 
suffused  in  tears,  was  incapable  of  utterance, 
but  grasped  his  hand  when  they  embraced 
each  other  in  silence.  In  the  same  affectionate 


76  ROMANTIC    DAYS 

manner  every  officer  in  the  room  marched  up 
to,  kissed  and  parted  with  his  Commander  in 
Chief.  Such  a  scene  of  sorrow  and  weeping 
I  had  never  before  witnessed,  and  I  hope  may 
never  be  called  upon  to  witness  again.  Not  a 
word  was  uttered  to  break  the  solemn  silence 
that  presided  or  to  interrupt  the  tenderness  of 
the  scene.  The  simple  thought  that  we  were 
about  to  part  with  the  man  who  had  conducted 
us  through  a  long  and  bloody  war  and  under 
whose  conduct  the  glory  and  the  independence 
of  our  country  had  been  achieved,  and  that  we 
should  see  his  face  no  more  in  this  world, 
seemed  to  be  utterly  insupportable.  Already 
the  time  of  separation  had  come,  and  waving 
his  hand  to  his  grieving  children  around  him, 
he  left  the  room,  and  passing  through  a  corps 
of  light  infantry  who  were  paraded  to  receive 
him,  he  walked  silently  to  Whitehall,  where  a 
barge  was  waiting.  We  all  followed  in  mourn- 
ful silence  to  the  wharf,  where  a  prodigious 
crowd  had  assembled  to  witness  the  departure 
of  the  man  who,  under  God,  had  been  the  great 
agent  in  establishing  the  glory  and  independence 
of  these  United  States.  As  soon  as  he  was  seated 
the  barge  put  off  into  the  river,  and  when  out 
in  the  stream  our  great  and  beloved  General 
waved  his  hat  and  bade  us  a  silent  adieu." 
Samuel  Fraunces,  though  a  West  Indian  by 
birth,  had  proved  a  staunch  friend  of  the  patriot 


IN   THE   EARLY   REPUBLIC      77 

cause  when  the  Revolution  broke  out  and  had 
worthily  played  his  part  in  the  stirring  events 
of  the  time.  He  was  one  of  the  first  whom 
Washington  in  his  successful  days  rewarded. 
For  when  the  general  who  had  bidden  his  officers 
farewell  in  the  Long  Room  of  Fraunces'  Tavern 
returned  to  New  York  to  be  inaugurated  Pres- 
ident of  the  United  States,  he  promptly  made 
Fraunces  steward  of  his  household,  a  post  for 
which  the  Boniface  was  admirably  fitted  and 
which  he  filled  with  satisfaction  to  all  concerned. 
Sometimes,  to  be  sure,  he  was  over-zealous 
in  his  desire  to  provide  for  the  President's 
table  the  best  the  market  afforded. 

Once,  as  related  by  Mr.  Griswold  in  his 
"  Republican  Court,"  he  brought  home  from 
the  old  Fly  Market  a  fine  shad  for  which,  be- 
cause it  was  early  in  the  season,  he  had  to  pay 
a  very  good  price.  The  next  morning  the  fish 
was  duly  served  in  the  best  style  for  breakfast 
and  Washington  had  no  sooner  seated  himself 
at  table  than  he  sniffed  its  delicate  fragrance 
and  asked  what  they  had  there.  "  A  fine  shad/' 
replied  the  steward.  "Indeed,"  said  Washing- 
ton, "  it's  early  for  shad,  isn't  it?  How  much  did 
you  pay  for  it?"  "Two  dollars."  "Two 
dollars !  "  echoed  the  head  of  the  nation,  aghast. 
'  Two  dollars  for  a  fish !  Take  it  away.  I  can- 
not encourage  such  extravagance  at  my  table. 
I  shall  not  touch  it."  The  shad  was  accordingly 


78  ROMANTIC    DAYS 

removed,  and  Fraunces,  who  had  no  such 
economical  scruples,  made  a  hearty  meal  upon 
it  in  his  own  room. 

The  Fly  Market  referred  to  in  this  anecdote 
seems  at  first  glance  to  bear  very  little  relation- 
ship to  the  Valley  for  which  it  was  named.  But 
V'ly  or  Fly  was  recognized  by  all  good  Knicker- 
bockers to  be  an  abbreviation  of  valley  and  re- 
ferred to  Maiden  Lane,1  the  Valley  where  the 
Dutch  maidens  used  to  wash  their  linen  in  early 
New  York  times.  The  transition  to  Fly  came 
from  the  fact  that  the  Dutch  burghers  pro- 
nounced their  v's  like  fs.  A  whole  chapter 
might  be  written  on  the  butchers  of  the  Fly 
Market,  one  of  whom  was  no  less  a  person  than 
Henry  Astor,  elder  brother  of  John  Jacob  Astor, 
and  an  important  factor  in  the  establishment 
of  the  better  known  New  Yorker's  fortune. 

The  New  York  house  in  which  Washington 
took  up  his  residence,  when  he  came  to  the  city 
in  1789  as  the  nation's  first  President,  was  that 
on  the  corner  of  Cherry  and  Franklin  Streets, 
near  Franklin  Square,  referred  to  varyingly  as 
number  10,  and  as  number  3  Cherry  Street, 
and  known  as  the  Franklin  house.2  It  is 
difficult  from  contemporary  writers  to  get  any 
true  idea  as  to  the  kind  of  house  it  was,  for  the 
Quakers  called  it  a  "  Palace,"  while  the  French 

1  Jefferson  resided  at  57  Maiden  Lane  after  his  return  from  France. 

2  The  site  is  now  occupied  by  one  of  the  piers  of  Brooklyn  Bridge. 


IN    THE    EARLY   REPUBLIC      79 

Minister,  writing  to  his  home  government 
about  it,  spoke  of  it  as  "  a  humble  dwelling." 
Categorically,  the  house  was  of  brick,  had  three 
stories  and  was  amply  lighted  by  a  number  of 
small-paned  windows.  A  heavy  brass  knocker 
was  on  the  single  paneled  front  door,  which 
was  reached  by  one  of  the  two  short  flights  of 
steps  leading  up  from  the  sidewalk  on  either 
side  of  a  tiny  porch.  For  a  private  citizen  it  was 
a  large  house,  but  for  Washington's  official 
residence  it  soon  proved  to  be  inadequate. 
What  with  offices  and  reception  rooms  and 
sleeping  accommodations  for  ex-aides  and  private 
secretaries  —  five  in  all  —  as  well  as  for  his 
foster-children,  Nellie  and  George  Washington 
Parke  Custis,  the  "  Palace  "  was  badly  crowded 
from  the  first. 

As  soon  as  Mrs.  Washington  arrived  system- 
atic entertaining  began:  levees,  dinners  and 
Drawing  Rooms,  —  all  of  which  provoked  ad- 
verse criticism  on  the  ground  that  they  were 
"  aristocratical."  The  levees  were  appointed 
at  first  for  two  days  weekly -- Tuesday  and 
Friday  —  from  two  to  three;  later,  for  one 
day  only,  Tuesday,  from  three  to  four.  Ladies 
were  not  expected  at  these  particular  functions, 
nor  were  gentlemen  -  -  unless  their  standing 
was  of  a  certain  importance.  The  master  of 
ceremonies  on  these  occasions  was  Col.  Hum- 
phreys, and  there  is  a  story  that  once  he  tricked 


80 

the  President  into  receiving  in  great  state  by 
throwing  open  the  door  of  the  presence-room 
and  exclaiming  "  The  President  of  the  United 
States!  "  Washington  was  tremendously  dis- 
concerted, and  after  that  levee  saw  to  it  that 
his  receptions  were  simplicity  itself.  Standing 
in  a  room  from  which  the  chairs  had  been  re- 
moved, he  was  then  wont  to  greet  very  simply 
the  guests  who  came  up  to  him  and  made  their 
silent  bow.  One  hand  held  his  cocked  hat  on 
these  occasions,  and  the  other  probably  rested 
on  the  hilt  of  his  sword.  For  he  did  not  shake 
hands  as  visitors  were  presented  and,  when  all 
had  arrived,  he  passed  from  one  guest  to  another 
chatting  for  a  few  minutes  with  each. 

The  weekly  dinners  of  state  on  Thursdays 
at  four  in  the  afternoon  were  much  more  im- 
pressive. Fraunces  then  prepared  delicious 
and  wonderful  things  for  the  delectation  of 
the  invited  guests,  who  numbered  from  ten 
to  twenty-two  persons  besides  the  "  family." 
(The  private  secretaries  were  always  present.) 
Roast  beef,  veal,  lamb,  turkey,  duck  and  varie- 
ties of  game,  with  jelly,  fruit,  nuts  and  raisins, 
were  wont  on  these  occasions  to  be  placed  upon 
the  table  before  the  guests  came  in.  But  there 
was  careful  attention  to  the  appearance  of  the 
viands  and  upon  the  central  table,  set  off  by  a 
long  mirror  made  in  sections  and  framed  in 
silver,  were  usually  shown  "  chaste  mytho- 


IN    THE   EARLY   REPUBLIC      81 

logical  statuettes."  To  serve  the  guests  half 
a  dozen  or  more  waiters  were  on  hand  wearing 
the  brilliant  Washington  livery.  Mrs.  Washing- 
ton, rather  oddly,  usually  sat  at  the  head  of 
the  table,  and  Mr.  Lear,  the  President's  private 
secretary,  at  the  foot.  The  President  himself 
was  always  at  the  side  of  the  table  in  the  middle. 
Receiving  an  invitation  to  one  of  these  dinners 
appears  not  to  have  been  considered  a  command, 
as  is  now  the  case.  For  we  find  in  Washington's 
diary  enumeration  of  the  guests  invited  at 
different  times,  and  once  (July  1,  1790)  this 
note  is  added: 

'  The  Chief  Justice  and  his  lady,  Gen. 
Schuyler,  and  Mrs.  Izard  were  also  invited,  but 
were  otherwise  engaged." 

A  vivid  description  of  one  of  these  presidential 
dinners  has  come  down  to  us  in  the  Journal  of 
William  Maclay,  senator  from  Pennsylvania. 
Mr.  Maclay  found  little  to  his  liking  in  public 
life  and  his  comments  on  the  men  and  manners 
of  the  time  are  often  delightfully  caustic.  John 
Adams  he  bitterly  hated,  Alexander  Hamilton 
he  frankly  despised,  and  Morris  he  appears  to 
have  distrusted  though  his  relations  with  him, 
as  a  fellow-Pennsylvanian,  were  on  the  surface 
more  or  less  friendly.  The  Maclay  Journal, 
because  written  down  day  by  day  while  the 
events  therein  recorded  were  fresh  in  the  writer's 
mind,  is  most  entertaining  reading.  For  Senator 


82  ROMANTIC    DAYS 

Maclay  never  slighted  trifles,  as  many  another 
man  would  have  done  in  his  place.  Who  else 
would  have  cherished  for  us  that  delectable  bit 
of  gossip,  related  at  her  own  table  by  Mrs. 
Morris,  to  the  effect  that  once,  when  she  had 
been  dining  at  the  President's,  the  sauce  of  an 
elegant-looking  entree  had  proved  to  be  made 
with  "  cream  so  rancid  that,  on  taking  some  of 
it,  she  had  to  pass  her  handkerchief  to  her  mouth 
and  rid  herself  of  the  morsel;  on  which  she 
whispered  the  fact  to  the  President  .  .  .  and  he 
changed  his  plate  immediately.  '  But,'  added 
Mrs.  Morris  with  a  titter,  *  Mrs.  Washington 
ate  a  whole  heap  of  it !  ' 

The  senator's  own  invitation  to  dine  at  the 
President's  table  did  not  come  until  two  months 
later  than  this.  Perhaps  Mrs.  Washington, 
suspecting  his  critical  tendencies,  had  waited 
to  be  quite  sure  all  would  be  as  it  should.  Such, 
at  any  rate,  appears  to  have  been  the  case,  for 
Mr.  Maclay  cordially  pronounces  the  dinner, 
"  the  best  of  the  kind  I  ever  was  at!"  He 
characteristically  adds,  however,  that  "  the 
room  was  disagreeably  warm."  As  why  should 
it  not  be  in  New  York  City  at  four  o'clock  of 
an  August  afternoon?  The  full  list  of  those 
present  on  this  occasion  were:  "  President  and 
Mrs.  Washington,  Vice-President  and  Mrs. 
Adams,  the  Governor  and  his  wife,  Mr.  Jay 
and  wife,  Mr.  Langdon  and  wife,  Mr.  Dalton 


IN    THE    EARLY    REPUBLIC       83 

and  a  lady  (perhaps  his  wife)  and  a  Mr.  Smith, 
Mr.  Bassett  of  the  Delaware  State,  myself, 
Lear,  Lewis,  the  President's  two  secretaries. 
The  President  and  Mrs.  Washington  sat  op- 
posite each  other  in  the  middle  of  the  table; 
the  two  secretaries,  one  at  each  end.  First 
was  the  soup;  fish  roasted  and  boiled;  meats, 
gammon  [smoked  ham],  fowls,  etc.  This  was 
the  dinner.  The  middle  of  the  table  was  gar- 
nished in  the  usual  tasty  way,  with  small 
images,  artificial  flowers,  etc.  The  dessert  was, 
first  apple-pies,  pudding,  etc.,  then  iced  creams, 
jellies,  etc.;  then  water-melons,  musk-melons, 
apples,  peaches,  nuts. 

"  It  was  the  most  solemn  dinner  ever  I  sat 
at.  Not  a  health  drank,  scarce  a  word  said 
until  the  cloth  was  taken  away.  Then  the 
President,  filling  a  glass  of  wine,  with  great 
formality  drank  to  the  health  of  every  individual 
by  name  around  the  table.  Everybody  imi- 
tated him  and  charged  glasses  and  such  a 
buzz  of  '  health,  sir,'  and  '  health,  madam,'  and 
'  thank  you,  sir,'  and  '  thank  you,  madam ' 
never  had  I  heard  before.  Indeed  I  had  liked 
to  have  been  thrown  out  in  the  hurry;  but  I 
got  a  little  wine  in  my  glass  and  passed  the 
ceremony.  The  ladies  sat  a  good  while  and  the 
bottles  passed  about;  but  there  was  a  dead 
silence  almost.  Mrs.  Washington  at  last  with- 
drew with  the  ladies. 


84  ROMANTIC    DAYS 

"  I  expected  the  men  would  now  begin  but 
the  same  stillness  remained.  The  President 
told  of  a  New  England  clergyman  who  had  lost 
a  hat  and  wig  in  passing  a  river  called  the  Brunks. 
He  smiled  and  everybody  else  laughed.  [Is 
there  a  joke  here?]  He  now  and  then  said  a 
sentence  or  two  on  some  common  subject  and 
what  he  said  was  not  amiss  [Oh,  grudging  Mr. 
Maclay !  ]  Mr.  Jay  tried  to  make  a  laugh  by 
mentioning  the  circumstance  of  the  Duchess  of 
Devonshire  leaving  no  stone  unturned  to  carry 
Fox's  election.  [It  will  be  recalled  that  she  bar- 
tered kisses  for  votes.]  There  was  a  Mr.  Smith 
who  mentioned  how  Homer  described  ^Eneas 
leaving  his  wife  and  carrying  his  father  out  of 
flaming  Troy.  He  had  heard  somebody  (I 
suppose)  witty  on  the  occasion;  but  if  he  had 
ever  read  it  he  would  have  said  Virgil.  The 
President  kept  a  fork  in  his  hand,  when  the 
cloth  was  taken  away,  I  thought  for  the  pur- 
pose of  picking  nuts.  He  ate  no  nuts,  how- 
ever, but  played  with  the  fork,  striking  on 
the  edge  of  the  table  with  it.  We  did  not  sit 
long  after  the  ladies  retired.  The  President 
rose,  went  up-stairs  to  drink  coffee;  the  com- 
pany followed.  I  took  my  hat  and  came 
home." 

Nor  had  the  senator  from  Pennsylvania  any 
more  enthusiastic  praise  for  the  levees.  "At 
such  meetings,"  he  wrote,  "  nothing  is  regarded 


IN    THE    EARLY   REPUBLIC       85 

or  valued  but  the  qualifications  that  flow  from 
the  tailor,  barber,  or  dancing-master.  To  be 
clean  shaved,  shirted  and  powdered,  to  make 
your  bows  with  grace  and  to  be  master  of  small 
chat  on  the  weather,  play,  or  newspaper  anec- 
dote of  the  day,  are  the  highest  qualifications 
necessary.  Levees  may  be  extremely  useful 
in  old  countries  where  men  of  great  fortune 
are  collected,  as  it  may  keep  the  idle  from  being 
much  worse  employed.  But  here  I  think  they 
are  hurtful.  .  .  .  From  these  small  beginnings 
I  fear  we  shall  follow  on  nor  cease  till  we  have 
reached  the  summit  of  court  etiquette,  and  all 
the  frivolities,  fopperies  and  expense  practiced 
in  European  governments."  It  is  scarcely 
necessary  to  add,  after  citing  these  two  passages 
from  Mr.  Maclay's  Journal,  that  the  senator 
from  Pennsylvania  was  no  longer  young,  found 
himself  very  forlorn  away  from  his  home  and 
family  —  and  suffered  torture  with  rheuma- 
tism. 

Mrs.  Washington's  Drawing  Rooms,  held 
from  seven  till  nine  on  Friday  evenings,  were 
stately  and  interesting.  Attended  by  all  that 
was  fashionable,  elegant,  and  refined  in  the 
society  of  that  day,  :<  there  was,  none  the  less, 
no  place  for  the  intrusion  of  the  rabble  in  crowds, 
or  for  the  mere  coarse  and  boisterous  partisan, 
the  vulgar  electioneerer,  or  the  impudent  place- 
hunter."  Mrs.  Washington  was  quite  as  careful 


86  ROMANTIC    DAYS 

to  have  only  the  right  people  at  her  parties  as 
was  her  husband  at  his. 

The  President,  at  these  Friday  evening  re- 
ceptions, signified,  by  carrying  neither  sword 
nor  hat,  that  he  was  only  "  unofficially  present." 
Precisely  at  seven  o'clock  he  would  enter  the 
room  and  take  his  stand  beside  Mrs.  Washing- 
ton. Ladies,  attended  always  by  gentlemen, 
then  came  in,  courtesied  low  and  silently,  and 
sat  down.  When  the  guests  had  ceased  to 
arrive,  the  President  walked  about  and  talked 
to  the  interested  women.  The  one  exciting  in- 
cident which  has  come  down  to  us  regarding 
these  Drawing  Rooms  is  connected  with  Miss 
Mary  Mclvers,  a  noted  belle,  who  on  a  certain 
occasion  wore  an  ostrich  feather  head-dress 
so  monstrously  tall  that  it  caught  fire  from  the 
candles  of  the  chandelier,  as  Miss  Mclvers 
stood  happily  talking  in  the  centre  of  the  room. 
The  "  hero  "  of  this  occasion  was  Major  Jack- 
son, aid-de-camp  to  the  President,  who  flew 
to  the  rescue,  clapped  the  burning  plumes  in 
his  hands,  and  saved  the  lady  with  all  possible 
gallantry.  '  There  was  no  undue  rustling  of 
stiff  brocades  or  ruffling  of  pretty  manners," 
comments  Miss  Leila  Herbert,1  "  for  it  was  then, 
as  now,  good  form  for  ladies  to  be  perturbed 
only  by  mice  and  cows." 

The  costumes  worn  by  these  well-bred  ladies 

1  The  First  American,  p.  55. 


MARTHA   WASHINGTON. 

From  the  portrait  by  James  Savage  in  the  possession  of  Brooks  Adams,  Quincy,  Massa- 
chusetts. 


•>,[  m  till 


liiroli- 


111 


1.      HOUSES   OPPOSITE   BOWLING    GREEN   ON   BROADWAY. 

2.      MACOMB    HOUSE,    WASHINGTON'S    SECOND    NEW    YORK    RESIDENCE 
WHILE    PRESIDENT. 


IN    THE    EARLY   REPUBLIC      87 

and  gentlemen  must  have  gone  far  to  compel 
elegant  behavior.  Washington  was  wont  to 
appear  in  purple  satin  or  drab  broadcloth,  — 
when  not  arrayed  in  black  velvet  set  off  with 
shining  buttons,  —  pearl  satin  waistcoat,  fine 
linen  and  lace.  And  Mrs.  Washington,  though 
buxom  and  not  very  tall,  by  carefully  chosen 
gowns  and  a  peculiar  head-dress  known,  ac- 
cording to  Watson's  Annals,  as  the  "  Queen's 
Nightcap "  added  height  to  her  appearance 
and  so  enhanced  the  impression  of  gentle  dignity 
which  she  never  failed  to  convey. 

It  is  doubtless  due  to  Mrs.  Washington's 
slight  stature  rather  than  to  the  facts  of  the 
matter  that  we  find  her  represented  in  Hunting- 
ton's  famous  picture  of  the  Republican  Court 
as  standing  upon  a  slight  elevation  above  most 
of  her  guests.  Some  of  her  particular  friends 
are  near  her  in  this  picture  —  and  some  who 
were  not  actually  in  New  York  at  the  time  the 
painting  was  made  are  here  also!  Similarly 
Nellie  Custis  and  George  Washington  Parke 
Custis,  both  of  whom  were  far  too  young  to 
have  been  present  at  a  formal  Drawing  Room, 
save  for  the  purpose  of  having  their  portraits 
painted,  stand  —  in  the  canvas  —  close  to  their 
grandmother.  Mrs.  Robert  Morris,  Mrs.  John 
Jay,  Lady  Kitty  Duer,  Mrs.  Ralph  Izard,  Mrs. 
James  Beekman,  Mrs.  George  Clinton,  Mrs. 
Robert  R.  Livingston,  Mrs.  Walter  Livingston, 


88  ROMANTIC    DAYS 

Mrs.  John  Bayard,  and  Mrs.  Alexander  Ham- 
ilton were  other  of  the  ladies  in  Mrs.  Washing- 
ton's immediate  circle;  the  faces  of  many  of 
them  may  be  distinguished  in  the  picture. 
But  there  are  some  rather  startling  anachro- 
nisms in  the  work.  General  Nathanael  Greene, 
who  died  before  the  new  government  was  even 
instituted,  is  there  as  large  as  life,  and  the  Duke 
of  Orleans,  afterwards  King  of  the  French,  is 
represented  as  making  his  bow  to  Mrs.  Washing- 
ton at  the  same  time  that  the  Duke  of  Kent, 
father  of  the  late  Queen  Victoria,  was  likewise 
so  engaged.  This  in  spite  of  the  fact  that  the 
two  dukes  were  in  America  at  quite  different 
times.  Inasmuch,  however,  as  the  painting 
is  extraordinarily  accurate  in  the  matter  of 
costumes,  as  well  as  with  regard  to  the  faces  and 
figures  represented,  the  net  result  is  of  great  his- 
torical interest.  The  background  of  the  work  is 
the  second  New  York  residence  of  the  Washing- 
tons,  the  Macomb  house  on  Broadway,  to  which 
they  removed  in  the  spring  of  1790,  after  the  Presi- 
dent returned  from  his  tour  of  the  Eastern  States. 
"  Courts,"  it  may  here  be  said,  were  not  at 
all  to  Mrs.  Washington's  taste,  nor  did  the  label 
of  "  Republican  "  serve  to  make  her  particular 
brand  of  "  court  "  acceptable;  we  have  ample 
assurance  that  she  would  "  much  rather  have 
been  at  home  "  1  than  officiating  in  New  York 

1  So  she  wrote  once  in  a  letter  to  Mercy  Warren. 


IN    THE    EARLY   REPUBLIC      89 

as  First  Lady  of  the  Land.  To  Mrs.  Fanny 
Washington,  then  keeping  house  at  Mt.  Vernon, 
she  wrote: 

"  New  York,  October  22,  1789." 
"  MY  DEAR  FANNY,  —  I  have  by  Mrs. 
Sims  sent  you  a  watch;  it  is  one  of  the  cargoe, 
that  I  have  so  long  mentioned  to  you  that  was 
expected,  I  hope  it  is  such  a  one  as  will  please 
you  —  it  is  of  the  newest  fashion  if  that  has  any 
influence  on  your  taste,  the  chain  is  of  Mr. 
Lear's  choosing  and  such  as  Mrs.  Adams  the 
Vice  president's  lady  and  those  in  the  polite  circle 
wear. 

"  Mrs.  Sims  will  give  you  a  better  account  of 
the  fashions  than  I  can  —  I  live  a  very  dull 
life  hear  and  know  nothing  that  passes  in  the 
town  —  I  never  goe  to  any  public  place  —  in- 
deed I  think  I  am  more  like  a  State  prisoner  than 
anything  else;  there  is  certain  bounds  set  for 
me  which  I  must  not  depart  from  —  and  as  I 
cannot  doe  as  I  like  I  am  obstinate  and  stay  at 
home  a  great  deal. 

'  The  President  set  out  this  day  week  on  a 
tour  to  the  eastward;  Mr.  Lear  and  Mr.  Jack- 
son attended  him  —  my  dear  children  has  had 
very  bad  colds  but  thank  God  they  are  getting 
better.  My  love  and  good  wishes  attend  you 
and  all  with  you  —  remember  me  to  Mr.  and 
Mrs.  L.  Wn  [Lund  Washington]  how  is  the  poor 


90  ROMANTIC    DAYS 

child  —  kiss  Marie,  I  send  her  two  little  handker- 
chiefs to  wipe  her  nose.    Adue." 

The  President,  too,  appears  to  have  been  home- 
sick very  often  while  in  New  York.  Writing 
to  a  friend  in  Virginia,  who  had  alluded  to  ru- 
mors of  presidential  pomp,  he  explains  that  the 
real  reason  his  Tuesday  callers  do  not  sit  down 
is  because  the  room  would  not  hold  enough  chairs 
—  even  if  sitting  at  such  times  had  been  the 
custom.  The  dignity  of  office,  he  adds,  has 
"  God  knows  no  charms  for  me.  I  had  rather 
be  at  Mount  Vernon  with  a  friend  or  two  about 
me,  than  to  be  attended  at  the  seat  of  govern- 
ment by  the  officers  of  state  and  the  representa- 
tives of  every  power  in  Europe."  As  evidence 
that  extreme  simplicity  in  his  domestic  life 
was  the  note  he  would  have  preferred  to  sustain 
we  have  Judge  Wingate's  description  of  the 
first  presidential  dinner:  "  The  President  made 
his  whole  dinner  upon  a  boiled  leg  of  mutton. 
It  was  his  usual  practice  to  eat  of  but  one  dish. 
As  there  was  no  chaplain  present  the  President 
himself  said  a  very  short  grace  as  he  was  sitting 
down.  After  the  dinner  and  dessert  were  finished 
one  glass  of  wine  was  passed  around  the  table 
and  no  toast.  .  .  ." 

It  was  while  living  in  the  Franklin  house  that 
Washington,  at  the  request  of  Congress,  wrote 
pur  first  Thanksgiving  proclamation,  setting 


IN    THE    EARLY   REPUBLIC      91 

apart  for  that  festival  a  Thursday  of  November, 
1789.  Here,  too,  the  first  New  Year's  reception 
of  the  head  of  the  American  nation  was  held. 
Writes  Washington  in  his  diary: 

"  The  Vice-President,  the  Governor,  the 
Senators,  Members  of  the  House  of  Represen- 
tatives in  town,  foreign  public  characters,  and 
all  the  respectable  citizens  came  between  the 
hours  of  twelve  and  three  o'clock  to  pay  the 
compliments  of  the  season  to  me;  and  in  the 
afternoon  a  great  number  of  gentlemen  and 
ladies  visited  Mrs.  Washington  on  the  same 
occasion." 

In  the  February  of  1790  the  presidential 
family  moved  to  the  larger  house  they  had  long 
felt  to  be  necessary.  Thus  it  is  with  the  Macomb 
residence  on  Broadway  that  Washington's 
later  months  in  New  York  are  to  be  associated. 
This  house  was  the  finest  private  dwelling  in 
the  city  and  commanded  from  the  rear  a  delight- 
ful view  of  the  Hudson  and  the  Jersey  shore. 
It  was  now  easy  for  Washington  to  slip  out  of 
his  back  door,  clad  in  his  old  clothes,  and  go 
fishing,  when  he  wished  so  to  relieve  the  strain 
of  his  public  and  official  duties.  As  a  fisherman 
he  was  as  successful  as  in  his  various  other  ac- 
tivities. "  All  the  fish  come  to  his  hook," 
the  captain  who  was  wont  to  take  him  out  once 
declared.  The  Washingtons'  stay  in  the  spacious 
Macomb  house  was  only  a  short  one  however. 


92  ROMANTIC    DAYS 

Scarcely  six  months  after  they  had  there  taken 
up  their  residence  it  was  decided  that  Phila- 
delphia should  for  some  years  be  the  capital 
city  in  New  York's  stead  and  so,  once  again, 
the  presidential  family  must  "  move."  The 
General  had  hoped  to  slip  away  quietly,  un- 
observed by  the  crowd  —  whom  he  loved,  yet 
dreaded.  Imagine  his  chagrin,  therefore, 
when,  just  as  he  was  congratulating  himself 
that  his  plot  to  conceal  his  departure  by  getting 
off  early  in  the  morning  had  succeeded,  the 
raucous  notes  of  an  artillery  band  were  heard 
under  his  office  window,  accompanied  by  the 
scurrying  footsteps  of  a  thousand  devoted 
people  come  to  watch  their  beloved  chief  as 
he  took  his  departure  from  America's  first 
capital. 

But  though  New  York  had  ceased  to  be  the 
seat  of  the  national  assembly,  it  remained,  as 
it  was  bound  to  do,  the  commercial  and  hence 
the  real  social  centre  of  American  life.  Wash- 
ington, with  his  astounding  sense  of  compara- 
tive values,  prophesied  that  such  must  be  the 
case.  To  Richard  Parkinson,  whom  he  was  enter- 
taining at  his  home  in  Mt.  Vernon,  he  said: 
"  Baltimore  would  be  the  risingest  town  in 
America  except  the  Federal  City,  Philadelphia 
would  decline;  but  New  York  would  always 
maintain  eminent  commercial  rank  from  its 
position  and  from  the  frost  not  stopping  the 


THE  MERCHANTS'  EXCHANGE,  NEW  YORK,  ABOUT  1830. 

From  a  drawing  by  C.  Burton. 


Photograph  by  the  Phillips  Studio. 

MRS.    CHAUNCEY    GOODRICH. 

From  a  miniature  in  the  possession  of  Charles  A.   Brinley 
of  Philadelphia. 


IN    THE    EARLY   REPUBLIC      93 

navigation  so  early  and  sometimes  not  at  all." 
With  the  commercial  development  of  New 
York  —  or,  indeed,  of  any  city  —  this  book 
is  not  particularly  concerned;  but  we  must  not 
ignore  the  fact  that  to  the  wealth  which  this 
development  made  possible  is  due  much  of  the 
brilliancy  and  charm  of  early  Republican  so- 
ciety. 

When  Chauncey  Goodrich  of  New  York  mar- 
ried Mary  Ann  Wolcott  of  Connecticut  and 
brought  her  (October,  1789)  to  his  native  city 
to  live  for  a  time,  one  more  very  beautiful 
woman  was  to  be  found  in  Knickerbocker 
drawing-rooms.  The  Wolcott  women  appear 
to  have  all  been  belles.  The  wife  of  Oliver  Wol- 
cott of  Connecticut  (who  was,  first,  Auditor 
of  the  Treasury,  and  later  succeeded  Hamilton 
as  Secretary)  had  less  beauty  but  was  noted 
for  her  graceful  manners,  and  few  could  be 
compared  with  her  for  culture  and  refinement. 
When  the  British  minister  remarked  to  Tracy 
at  a  dance:  *  Your  countrywoman,  Mrs. 
Wolcott,  would  be  admired  even  at  St.  James's," 
the  senator  replied,  "  Sir,  she  is  admired  even 
on  Litchfield  Hill."  A  member  of  Congress 
called  this  lady  a  "divine  woman";  another 
11  the  magnificent  Mrs.  Wolcott";  and  some 
compared  her  to  Mrs.  Bingham. 

Second  to  none  of  the  New  York  women, 
either  native  or  imported,  in  beauty  and  charm 


94  ROMANTIC    DAYS 

was  Mrs.  John  Jay,  born  Sarah  Livingston. 
She  it  was  who  was  mistaken  for  Queen  Marie 
Antoinette  once,  upon  entering  the  theatre  in 
Paris.  Just  before  the  outbreak  of  the  Revolu- 
tion, being  then  eighteen,  she  had  married  John 
Jay,  a  young  lawyer  of  very  good  family  con- 
nection, who  was  called  almost  at  once  to 
take  an  important  public  office.  Subsequently 
for  some  years  his  services  to  his  country  kept 
him  from  the  side  of  his  lovely  wife,  who  passed 
the  greater  part  of  her  time  at  the  residence  of 
her  father,  with  occasional  visits  to  her  husband's 
parents  at  their  country  place  in  Rye,  West- 
chester  County,  New  York.  When  Mr.  Jay 
was  appointed  minister  to  Spain  in  1779  his 
wife  went  with  him,  however,  and  when  Con- 
gress decreed  that  Mr.  Jay  should  go  to  Paris 
to  help  Franklin  negotiate  peace  treaties,  Mrs. 
Jay  was  launched  at  once  into  the  most  brilliant 
Paris  circles  of  the  day.  For  the  Queen,  whom 
she  so  strikingly  resembled,  Mrs.  Jay  had  a 
warm  admiration.  To  Mrs.  Robert  Morris 
she  wrote  (November  14,  1782),  "  She  is  so 
handsome  and  her  manner  so  engaging  that, 
almost  forgetful  of  Republican  principles,  I 
was  ready,  while  in  her  presence,  to  declare  her 
born  to  be  a  queen.  There  are,  however,  many 
traits  in  her  character  worthy  of  imitation, 
even  by  Republicans;  and  I  cannot  but  admire 
her  resolution  to  superintend  the  education  of 


IN    THE   EARLY   REPUBLIC      95 

Madame  Royale,  her  daughter,  to  whom  she 
has  allotted  chambers  adjoining  her  own,  and 
persists  in  refusing  to  name  a  governess  for 
her." 

Among  the  first  to  welcome  Mrs.  Jay  to 
Paris  were  the  Marquis  and  Marchioness  de 
Lafayette.  The  acquaintanceship  between  the 
ladies  soon  ripened  into  friendship  and  their 
letters  are  marked  by  a  tone  of  sincere  affection. 
John  Adams's  daughter,  writing  from  Paris 
in  1785,  tells  us  that  Madame  de  Lafayette  said 
that  "  she  and  Mrs.  Jay  were  agreed  that, 
while  pleasure  might  be  found  abroad,  happiness 
was  to  be  had  only  at  home  and  in  the  society 
of  one's  family  and  friends." 

In  the  Franklin  circle  at  Passy  the  charming 
American  was  a  prime  favorite.  The  "  Sage," 
as  Mirabeau  afterwards  dubbed  him,  had  lost 
neither  his  love  of  beauty  nor  his  taste  in  judg- 
ing of  it,  even  though  he  was  seventy-six  at 
this  time.  He  was  constantly  surrounded  by 
the  fair  women  and  gifted  men  of  the  day  and 
the  letters  which  passed  between  him  and  Mrs. 
Jay  (and  which  Mrs.  Ellet  reprints  in  her 
Queens  of  American  Society]  give  us  vivid 
glimpses  of  social  life  in  the  Paris  of  that  day. 
Before  Mrs.  Jay  left  Madrid  he  had  sent  her 
his  portrait  with  these  words :  "  Mrs.  Jay  does 
me  much  honour  in  desiring  to  have  one  of  the 
prints  that  have  been  ma.de  of  her  countryman. 


96  ROMANTIC    DAYS 

I  send  what  has  been  said  to  be  the  best  of 
five  or  six  engraved  by  different  hands  from 
different  paintings.  The  verses  at  the  bottom 
are  truly  extravagant.  But  you  must  know 
that  the  desire  of  pleasing  by  a  perpetual  use 
of  compliments  in  this  polite  nation  has  so 
used  up  all  the  common  expressions  of  appro- 
bation that  they  have  become  flat  and  insipid 
and  to  use  them  almost  implies  censure.  Hence 
music,  which  formerly  might  be  sufficiently 
praised  when  it  was  called  bonne,  to  go  a  little 
farther  they  called  excellente,  then  superbe, 
magnifique,  exquisite,  celeste,  all  of  which  being 
in  their  turn  worn  out  there  remains  only 
divine,  and  when  that  is  grown  as  insufficient  as 
its  predecessors  I  think  they  must  return  to 
common  speech  and  common  sense,  as  from 
vying  with  one  another  in  fine  and  costly  paint- 
ings on  their  coaches,  since  I  first  knew  the 
country,  not  being  able  to  go  further  in  that 
way,  they  have  returned  lately  to  plain  carriages, 
painted  without  arms  or  figures  in  one  uniform 
colour." 

Here  is  another  of  the  Doctor's  little  notes: 
"  Dr.  Franklin  regrets  exceedingly  that  his 
health  does  not  permit  the  honour  and  pleasure 
of  waiting  upon  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Jay  according  to 
their  obliging  invitation.  He  hopes  Mr.  and 
Mrs.  Jay  will  condescend  to  indemnify  him  for 
the  loss  he  sustains  by  honouring  him  with  their 


IN    THE   EARLY   REPUBLIC      97 

company  at  dinner  on  Saturday  next.  The 
doctor  would  be  happy  to  see  Mr.  Munroe  [their 
nephew]  at  the  same  time.  Passy  9th  October, 
1782." 

There  has  been  preserved  for  us,  also,  in 
connection  with  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Jay,  a  charming 
account  of  one  of  Franklin's  experiments  in 
magnetism.  To  her  husband,  absent  at  Bath, 
the  lady  wrote,  November  18,  1783:  "Dr. 
Franklin  charged  me  to  present  you  his  com- 
pliments, whenever  I  write  to  you,  but  forbids 
my  telling  you  how  much  pains  he  takes  to 
excite  my  jealousy  at  your  stay.  The  other 
evening,  at  Passy,  he  produced  several  pieces 
of  steel;  the  one  he  supposed  you  at  Chaillot, 
which,  being  placed  near  another  piece,  which 
was  to  represent  me,  it  was  attracted  by  that 
and  presently  united ;  but  when  drawn  off  from 
me  and  near  another  piece,  which  the  doctor 
called  an  English  lady,  behold  the  same  effect! 
The  company  enjoyed  it  much  and  urged  me 
to  revenge;  but  all  could  not  shake  my  confi- 
dence in  my  beloved  friend." 

The  "  friend  "  appears  to  have  taken  this 
excellent  fooling  in  very  good  part,  for  he  replies, 
"  It  gives  me  pleasure  to  hear  that  our  friend, 
the  Doctor,  is  in  such  good  spirits.  Though  his 
magnets  love  society,  they  are  nevertheless 
true- to  the  pole,  and  in  that  I  hope  I  resemble 
them."  Which  shows  that  this  early  Repub- 


*  ROMANTIC    DAYS 

lican  husband,  though  nine  years  removed  from 
courting  days,  had  not  lost  the  power  to  write 
love-letters  to  his  wife. 

The  warm  friendship  between  the  Jays  and 
Doctor  Franklin  was  never  allowed  to  lapse. 
Affectionate  notes  from  the  Sage  of  Passy 
came  to  them  often  after  they  had  returned  to 
America,  and,  when  Franklin  himself  returned, 
Jay  welcomed  him  in  a  cordial  letter.  In  refer- 
ence to  the  Doctor's  proposed  visit  to  New  York 
he  declared,  "  Mrs.  Jay  is  exceedingly  pleased 
with  this  idea,  and  sincerely  joins  with  me  in 
wishing  to  see  it  realized.  Her  attachments 
are  very  strong  and  that  to  you  being  founded 
on  esteem,  and  the  recollection  of  kind  offices, 
is  particularly  so." 

The  absence  from  New  York  of  the  Jays  for 
nearly  five  years  (they  returned  in  the  summer 
of  1784)  had  only  tended  to  make  them  more 
welcome  as  social  leaders  of  the  day.  To 
beauty  and  sweet  womanliness  Mrs.  Jay  now 
added  the  cosmopolitan  polish  bestowed  by 
long  residence  near  European  courts.  From 
her  "  Dinner  and  Supper  List  for  1787  and  '8," 
which  chances  to  have  been  preserved  we  see 
that  the  most  cultivated  men  and  women  of  the 
day,  whether  Europeans  on  visits  over  here  or 
residents  of  other  American  cities  who  chanced 
to  be  in  New  York,  were  entertained  by  her. 
Among  the  older  families  of  New  York  men- 


MRS.    JOHN   JAY. 
From  the  painting  by  Daniel  Huntington,  enlarged  from  a  miniature  in  a  bracelet. 


IN    THE    EARLY   REPUBLIC       99 

tioned  in  her  list  the  names  of  the  Beekmans, 
the  Bronsons,  the  Clintons,  the  Clarksons,  the 
Crugers,  the  Sterlings,  the  De  Peysters,  the 
Livingstons,  the  Morrises,  the  Rutherfurds, 
the  Schuylers,  the  Van  Homes,  the  Van  Cort- 
landts,  the  Van  Rensselaers,  the  Verplancks 
and  the  Watts,  constantly  occur.  The  letters 
and  diaries  of  the  time,  too,  are  full  of  allusions 
to  hospitalities  enjoyed  at  the  home  of  the 
Jays,  a  three-story  dwelling  of  hewn  stone  which 
stood  at  what  was  then  133  Broadway. 

In  the  spring  of  1794  Mr.  Jay,  who  for  some 
time  had  been  Chief  Justice,  was  sent  by  Wash- 
ington as  special  ambassador  to  England  to 
negotiate  with  Lord  Grenville  the  treaty  which 
bears  his  name.  At  Mrs.  Jay's  earnest  request 
their  young  son,  Peter  Augustus,  then  in  his 
nineteenth  year,  accompanied  his  father  on 
this  expedition.  But  that  the  wife  and  mother 
left  behind  was  soon  suffering  sorely  from  fears 
for  the  safety  of  her  two  beloved  ones  we  see 
from  this  letter: 

"  Oh,  my  dear  Mr.  Jay,  how  greatly  do 
circumstances  alter  our  ideas  of  things.  I've 
known  the  time  when  in  your  company  I  could 
have  enjoyed  a  storm  like  this.  At  present  I 
cannot  nor  would  I  wish  to  describe  the  painful 
fancies  it  gives  birth  to.  I  know  you  disap- 
prove the  anticipation  of  evils,  but,  indeed,  my 
best  of  husbands,  such  a  storm  as  this  is  enough 


100  ROMANTIC    DAYS 

to  prostrate  one's  reason.  At  this  season  of 
the  year  it  is  so  unusual.  The  poplars  this 
morning  were  on  the  ground  and  the  cherries, 
still  unripe,  were  blown  from  the  trees  before 
the  dining-room  window  into  the  stable-yard. 
Frank  has  raised  the  poplars.  When  I  droop 
who  shall  raise  me,  if  the  wide  ocean  should 
swallow  up  my  husband  and  child  ?  " 

Happily,  however,  no  such  catastrophe  oc- 
curred. Mr.  Jay  returned  home  in  safety,  hav- 
ing acquitted  himself  with  honor  to  his  country, 
and  subsequently  for  two  terms  served  his  state 
as  Governor.  The  young  son,  too,  benefited 
greatly  by  the  experience,  just  as  his  mother 
had  thought  he  would,  and  came  back  to  take 
up  his  place  in  the  New  York  of  his  day  and 
to  be  married  to  the  lovely  daughter  of  General 
Clarkson,  whose  home  was  on  Pearl  Street.  The 
following  account  of  their  wedding  has  come  down 
to  us: 

"  The  company  assembled  about  half -past 
seven,  and  were  received  in  the  drawing-room, 
which  was  on  the  north  side  of  the  house  on  the 
second  floor,  its  three  windows  looking  out  upon 
Pearl  Street.  Among  the  guests  were  Governor 
Jay,  Miss  Anne  Brown,  the  Rutherfurds,  Bay- 
ards, Le  Roys,  Van  Homes,  Munroes,  Wallaces 
and  others.  Bishop  Moore  arrived  a  quarter 
before  eight,  and  at  eight  the  bride,  followed  by 
her  bridesmaids,  entered  the  room  and  was  re- 


IN    THE    EARLY   REPUBLIC     101 

ceived  by  the  groom  and  his  attendants.  The 
bridesmaids  were  the  Misses  Anne  Jay,  Helen 
Rutherfurd,  Anna  Maria  Clarkson,  Cornelia  Le 
Roy  and  Susan  and  Catharine  Bayard.  The 
groomsmen  were  Robert  Watts,  Jr.,  John  Cox 
Morris,  Dominick  Lynch,  George  Wechman, 
Benjamin  Ledyard  and  B.  Woolsey  Rogers. 

''  The  bride  was  dressed  in  white  silk  covered 
with  white  crape  or  gauze.  Pearls  adorned  her 
hair,  encircled  her  neck  and  were  clasped  around 
her  arms.  Her  maids  wore  white  muslin,  made 
in  the  style  of  the  Empire  and  embroidered  in 
front,  and  each  carried  a  fan,  a  present  from  the 
bride.  *  Drab  flesh-colored  '  small  clothes,  flesh- 
colored  silk  stockings,  white  vests  and  coats 
varying  in  color  to  suit  the  taste  of  the  wearer 
made  up  the  attire  of  the  gentlemen,  which 
corresponded  with  that  of  the  groom,  whose 
coat  was  of  a  light  color.  The  ceremony  was 
then  performed  by  the  Bishop,  and  Mrs.  Jay 
received  the  congratulations  of  her  friends. 

"  A  great  variety  of  refreshments  was  then 
handed  round  on  trays  by  colored  waiters,  and 
in  the  dining  room  below,  upon  a  side  table,  a 
collation  was  spread  of  which  the  elderly  people 
partook.  The  groomsmen  drank  a  bottle  of 
wine  together  before  separating,  and  the  eve- 
ning's festivities  were  over  at  twelve  o'clock. 
On  the  next  day  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Jay  went  on  a 
visit  to  Edgerston,  on  the  Passaic,  a  little  above 


102  ROMANTIC    DAYS 

Belleville,  the  residence  of  Hon.  John  Rutherfurd. 
On  Saturday  Mrs.  Rutherfurd  entertained  the 
bridal  party  at  a  breakfast,  and  on  Monday 
they  returned  to  the  city.  Mr.  Jay  received 
his  friends  on  the  morning  of  the  succeeding 
Tuesday,  Wednesday  and  Thursday,  and  Mrs. 
Jay's  receptions  were  in  the  evenings  of  Thurs- 
day, Friday  and  Saturday."  * 

This  account  of  Peter  Augustus  Jay's  wedding 
has  been  quoted  in  full  not  only  because  of 
its  inherent  interest  but  because  it  shows  that 
the  leaven  of  extreme  simplicity  which  consti- 
tuted the  contribution  of  the  French  Revolu- 
tion to  American  social  life  had  begun  its  work. 
Franklin  was  in  France  from  1776  to  1785,  but 
neither  he  nor  John  Adams  appear  to  have 
sensed  in  the  least  the  impending  catastrophe. 
Jefferson  succeeded  Franklin,  arriving  March 
10,  1785,  and  before  he  came  home  in  1789  he 
could  not  help  seeing  that  trouble  was  brewing. 
But  he  blinked  the  deep-seated  nature  of  the 
popular  unrest,  believing  that  the  extravagance 
of  the  Queen  was  the  primary  cause  of  dissen- 
sion. Thus  he  was  able  to  sail  for  America 
firm  in  the  conviction  that  "  within  a  year  one 
of  the  greatest  of  recorded  revolutions  would 
have  been  affected  without  bloodshed."  2 


1  Colonial  Days  and  Dames:  Anne  Hollingsworth  Wharton,  p.  210. 

2  Contemporary    American    Opinion    of    the    French    Revolution: 
Charles  Downer  Hazen,  p.  53. 


IN    THE   EARLY   REPUBLIC    103 

Strange  that  these  men  could  not  scent  the 
breath  of  Revolution  when  its  fiery  blasts 
were  almost  in  their  faces! 

Sentimentally,  however,  Americans  revelled 
in  the  protest  when  its  actual  significance  had 
once  been  grasped.  Some  contemplated  it 
with  feelings  of  pleasure  and  pride  as  destined 
to  spread  abroad  their  own  ideas,  and  many 
eagerly  welcomed  it  as  an  ally  in  the  propaga- 
tion of  doctrines  in  which  they  believed  but 
which  had  not  yet  won  general  acceptance. 
The  songs,  dances  and  cockades  of  the  Revolu- 
tionists were  eagerly  adopted.  Wansey,  who 
traveled  in  this  country  in  the  summer  of  1794, 
wrote  that  at  least  one  in  every  ten  persons  he 
met  in  the  streets  wore  the  tricolored  cockade, 
the  men  in  their  hats,  the  women  on  their 
breasts.  Streets  were  rebaptized,  to  the  end 
that  Liberty  might  be  always  in  the  public 
eye,  and  marriage  notices  frequently  recorded 
that  "  Citizen "  X  had  been  married  to 
"  Citess  "  Y,  the  ceremony  having  been  per- 
formed by  "Citizen"  Z!  The  notices  of  the 
Jay  wedding  are  happily  without  these  affecta- 
tions, but  the  note  of  simplicity,  attributable 
to  recent  excesses  in  this  way,  is  none  the  less 
clearly  discernible. 

A  favorite  recreation  place  in  these  days  of 
old  New  York  was  the  Battery,  while  Castle 
Garden,  near  by,  was  long  a  fashionable  resort 


104  ROMANTIC    DAYS 

for  the  best  families.  In  the  streets  adjoining 
and  fronting  the  Battery  stood  handsome  old 
homes,  of  which  Richard  Grant  White,  writing 
from  boyhood  memories,  says:  "Long  after 
the  uptown  movement  began  people  who  were 
already  housed  near  the  Battery,  or  who  could 
afford  to  get  houses  there,  lingered  lovingly 
around  it,  and  well  they  might  do  so,  for  a 
place  of  city  residence  more  delightful  or  con- 
venient could  not  be  found.  Within  five  or 
ten  minutes  walk  of  Wall  and  South  Streets, 
where  the  great  merchants  had  their  counting 
houses,  it  was  yet  entirely  removed  from  busi- 
ness, and  its  surroundings  made  mere  living 
there  a  pleasure.  State  Street,  the  eastern 
boundary  of  the  Battery,  was  unsurpassed, 
if  it  was  ever  equalled,  as  a  place  of  town  resi- 
dence; for  living  there  was  living  on  a  park  with 
a  grand  water  view.  The  prospects  from  the 
windows  and  balconies  of  the  old  State  Street 
houses  included  the  bay  with  its  islands,  and 
the  shore  of  New  Jersey.  In  summer  the  western 
breezes  blew  upon  these  windows  straight  from 
the  water.  The  sight  here  on  spring  and  summer 
and  autumn  evenings  when  splendid  sunsets  — 
common  then  but  rare  now  because  of  changes 
in  the  surrounding  country  which  have  affected 
the  formation  and  disposition  of  the  clouds,  — 
made  the  firmament  and  water  blaze  with 
gold  and  color,  seemed  sometimes  in  their  gor- 


IN    THE   EARLY   REPUBLIC     105 

geousness  almost  to  surpass  the  imagination. 
It  was  a  matter  of  course  that  such  a  place  should 
be  chosen  as  the  site  of  the  homes  of  wealthy 
people.  The  houses  were  most  of  them  very 
simple  in  their  exterior;  but  they  had  an  air 
of  large  and  elegant  domesticity  which  proved 
them  the  homes  of  people  of  taste  and  char- 
acter." 

Until  the  middle  years  of  the  last  century 
Battery  Park,  or  Battery  Walk,  remained  as  it 
had  been  during  the  colonial  period,  the  most 
frequented  promenade  of  the  town.  It  is  curious 
to  think  of  the  way  in  which  this  place  once  came 
near  to  seeing  the  end  of  the  wily  Talleyrand. 
Because  Robespierre  wished  to  bring  the  un- 
frocked priest  to  the  guillotine  he  had  fled  from 
France  to  England,  and  then  (in  1794)  to  this 
country.  During  his  New  York  sojourn  he  had 
an  extraordinary  experience  on  the  Battery, 
the  story  of  which  as  afterwards  recounted  to 
his  secretary,  Bourdaleau,  makes  thrilling  read- 
ing.1  A  certain  Beaumetz,  with  whom  Talley- 
rand had  fled  from  France  and  engaged  in 
commercial  speculation,  was  about  to  depart 
with  him  in  a  small  vessel  for  India,  there  to 
improve  their  fortunes  further.  "  Everything 
was  in  readiness  for  our  departure;  we  were 
waiting  for  a  fair  wind  with  the  most  eager  ex- 

1  It  is  here  quoted,  by  permission  of  the  J.  B.  Lippincott  Company, 
from  R.  R.  Wilson's  New  York:  Old  and  New. 


106  ROMANTIC    DAYS 

pectation,  prepared  to  embark  at  any  hour 
of  the  day  or  night  in  obedience  to  the  warning 
from  the  captain.  This  state  of  uncertainty 
seemed  to  irritate  the  temper  of  Beaumetz, 
who  one  day  entered  our  lodging,  evidently 
laboring  under  great  excitement,  although  com- 
manding himself  to  appear  calm.  I  was  en- 
gaged at  the  moment  in  writing  letters  to  Eu- 
rope. Looking  over  my  shoulder  he  said  with 
forced  gaiety,  *  What  need  to  waste  time  in 
penning  letters?  They  will  never  reach  their 
destination.  Come  with  me  and  let  us  take  a 
turn  on  the  Battery;  perhaps  the  wind  may 
chop  round;  we  may  be  nearer  our  departure 
than  we  imagine.' 

"  The  day  was  fine  and  I  suffered  myself  to 
be  persuaded.  We  walked  through  the  crowded 
streets  to  the  Battery,  Beaumetz  seizing  my 
arm  and  hurrying  me  along.  When  we  had 
arrived  at  the  Esplanade  he  quickened  his  steps 
still  more  until  we  reached  close  to  the  water's 
edge.  He  talked  loud  and  quickly,  admiring 
in  energetic  terms  the  beauty  of  the  scenery, 
the  ships  riding  at  anchor,  and  the  busy  scene 
on  the  peopled  wharf.  Suddenly  he  paused, 
for  I  had  freed  my  arm  from  his  grasp  and  stood 
immovable  before  him.  Staying  his  wild  and 
rapid  steps  I  fixed  my  eyes  upon  him.  He  turned 
aside,  cowed  and  dismayed.  *  Beaumetz!'  I 
cried,  *  you  mean  to  murder  me !  You  intend 


IN    THE    EARLY   REPUBLIC    107 

to  throw  me  into  the  sea.  Deny  it,  monster, 
if  you  can! ' 

"  The  maniac  stared  at  me  for  a  moment,  but 
I  took  especial  care  not  to  avert  my  gaze  from 
his  countenance,  and  he  quailed  beneath  it. 
He  stammered  a  few  incoherent  words  and 
strove  to  pass  me,  but  I  barred  his  passage  with 
extended  arms.  He  looked  vacantly  right  and 
left  and  then  flung  himself  upon  my  neck  and 
burst  into  tears.  :  'Tis  true,  my  friend,  'tis 
true,'  he  cried.  '  The  thought  has  haunted 
me  day  and  night  like  a  flash  from  the  lurid 
fire  of  hell.  It  was  for  this  I  brought  you.  Look ! 
You  stand  within  a  foot  of  the  edge  of  the 
parapet;  in  another  instant  the  work  would 
have  been  done.'  The  demon  had  left  him; 
his  eye  was  unsettled  and  the  white  foam  stood 
in  bubbles  on  his  parched  lips,  but  he  was  no 
longer  tossed  by  the  same  mad  excitement 
under  which  he  had  been  labouring;  he  suffered 
me  to  lead  him  home  without  a  word.  A  few 
days  of  bleeding,  repose  and  abstinence  restored 
him  to  his  former  self,  and  what  is  most  extra- 
ordinary, the  circumstance  was  never  mentioned 
between  us.  My  fate,"  Talleyrand  concluded 
tersely,  "  was  at  work." 

Talleyrand's  lodging  was  on  the  Blooming- 
dale  Road,  and  there,  also,  Louis  Philippe  stayed 
while  in  New  York  at  the  end  of  the  eighteenth 
century.  It  was  Gouverneur  Morris  who  gave 


108  ROMANTIC    DAYS 

the  Citizen  King  money  with  which  to  journey 
to  America  and  who  furnished  him  with  un- 
limited credit  during  his  two  years  of  wandering 
in  the  United  States.  The  bourgeois  king's 
after-treatment  of  this  loan  showed  how  very 
little  royal  he  was  in  matters  of  honor.  *  When 
he  came  into  his  own  again,"  writes  Morris's 
biographer,  "he  at  first  appeared  to  forget  his 
debt  entirely,  and  when  his  memory  was  jogged, 
he  merely  sent  Morris  the  original  sum  without 
a  word  of  thanks;  whereupon,  Morris,  rather 
nettled,  and  as  prompt  to  stand  up  for  his  rights 
against  a  man  in  prosperity  as  he  had  been  to 
help  him  when  in  adversity,  put  the  matter 
in  the  hands  of  his  lawyer,  through  whom  he 
^notified  Louis  Philippe  that  if  the  affair  was 
to  be  treated  on  a  merely  business  basis  it 
should  then  be  treated  in  a  strictly  business 
way,  and  the  interest  for  the  twenty  years  that 
had  gone  by  should  be  forwarded  also.  This 
was  done,  although  not  until  after  the  death  of 
Morris,  the  sum  refunded  being  seventy  thou- 
sand francs." 

Another  royal  (?)  Frenchman  associated  with 
the  Bloomingdale  Road  is  Joseph  Bonaparte, 
ex-king  of  Spain,  who  sought  a  refuge  in  America 
soon  after  the  close  of  the  second  war  with 
England  and  who,  during  his  first  weeks  in  New 
York,  lived  in  the  country-seat  of  the  Post 
family,  at  what  is  now  One  Hundred  and  Twenty- 


IN    THE   EARLY   REPUBLIC     109 

third  Street.  Before  leaving  the  State  of  New 
York  Bonaparte  settled  down  on  a  large  tract 
of  land  he  had  acquired  in  Jefferson  County, 
installing  (1822)  as  mistress  of  the  villa  he  had 
there  built  Annette  Savage,  of  whom  he  was 
wont  to  speak  as  "  the  beautiful  Quaker  girl." 
When  he  returned  to  Europe  in  1830  his  "  Ameri- 
can wife  "  and  the  daughter  who  had  been  born 
to  them  remained  in  Northern  New  York,  the 
girl  eventually  marrying  a  man  named  Benton. 
Forty  years  later  Mrs.  Benton  was  able, 
through  friends,  to  urge  her  claim  to  recogni- 
tion as  a  Bonaparte  and  Napoleon  III  made  an 
appointment  to  receive  her  at  the  Tuileries. 
No  sooner  did  his  eyes  rest  upon  her  than  he 
exclaimed,  "I  recognize  you  as  a  Bonaparte." 
And  forthwith  the  union  of  Joseph  Bonaparte 
and  Annette  Savage  was  legitimized  and  Mrs. 
Benton  received  at  court  as  the  first  cousin  of 
the  emperor!  After  Napoleon's  downfall  she 
returned  to  America  and  supported  herself  by 
teaching  music.  "  She  died  in  humble  lodgings 
at  Richfield  Springs,"  records  Rufus  Rockwell 
Wilson,"  1  and  was  laid  to  rest,  on  a  stormy 
day  of  December,  1891,  in  the  cemetery  of  the 
Presbyterian  Church,  at  Oxbow,  New  York, 
only  four  persons  standing  beside  the  grave  of 
this  daughter  of  a  king." 

Jerome  Bonaparte,  when  in  New  York,  was 

1  In  New  York,  Old  and  New. 


110  ROMANTIC    DAYS 

most  often  to  be  found  at  the  elegant  home  of 
Stephen  Jumel  and  his  wife,  a  house  perhaps 
more  freighted  with  romance  *  than  any  other 
of  New  York  so  far  mentioned.  It  was  this 
house  to  which  Roger  Morris  took  as  a  bride 
Mary  Philipse  who,  tradition  has  it,  had  pre- 
viously declined  the  hand  of  George  Washing- 
ton. They  lived  here  together  until  the  Rev- 
olution, when  Colonel  Morris,  who  had  once 
worn  the  king's  uniform  and  so  felt  himself 
bound  by  honor  to  preserve  a  condition  of 
neutrality,  was  compelled  with  other  "  Tories  " 
to  depart  for  England.  The  Morris  mansion 
was  seized  by  the  Continental  troops,  and  here, 
curiously  enough,  Washington  for  a  time  had 
his  headquarters.  When  peace  was  concluded 
Morris  returned  to  New  York  but,  finding  that 
his  own  and  his  wife's  property  had  been  con- 
fiscated, sadly  turned  his  steps  again  to  England, 
where  he  is  said  to  have  died  of  a  broken  heart. 
The  title  of  the  house  beside  the  Kingsbridge 
Road  remained  in  dispute  until  1810,  when  John 
Jacob  Astor  bought  up  the  claim  of  the  Morris 
heirs.  A  little  later  Astor  sold  the  place  to 
Stephen  Jumel,  a  Frenchman  by  birth,  who, 
while  yet  a  young  man,  had  emigrated  to 
the  island  of  San  Domingo  and  there  made  a 

1  The  Jumel  Mansion,  Fraunces'  Tavern  and  old  St.  Paul's  are 
the  three  buildings  of  a  public  or  semi-public  character,  dating 
from  pre-Revolutionary  days,  that  still  atand  on  the  island  of  Man- 
hattan. 


OLD  ST.  PAUL'S,  NEW  YORK.  HERE  WASHINGTON  ATTENDED  A  SERVICE 
HELD  IN  HONOR  OF  HIS  INAUGURATION.  HERE,  TOO,  HE  REGULARLY 
WORSHIPPED  WHILE  NEW  YORK  WAS  THE  NATION'S  CAPITAL. 


AARON    BURR. 
From  a  painting  attributed  to  Gilbert  Stuart  in  the  possession  of  Princeton   Unirersity. 


IN    THE    EARLY   REPUBLIC     111 

fortune.  The  insurrection  of  the  blacks  under 
the  leadership  of  the  famous  Toussaint  1'Ouver- 
ture,  put  an  end  to  this,  however,  and  after 
a  part  of  his  fortune  had  been  seized  and 
destroyed  Jumel  disposed  of  the  remainder 
and  fled  to  America,  reaching  New  York  in 
1798. 

There  he  soon  met  and  fell  in  love  with  the 
beautiful  woman  who  was  later  to  become  the 
reluctant  wife  of  Aaron  Burr's  old  age.  This 
woman's  early  history,  which  has  only  in  recent 
years  become  fully  known,  accounts  for  much 
that  is  repugnant  in  her  character.  For  a  long 
time  even  her  parentage  was  a  mystery  but 
it  was  then  established  that  a  sailor  named 
Bowen  was  her  father  and  a  widow  called  Phoebe 
Kelly  her  mother.  The  history  of  Phoebe  Kelly, 
as  written  in  the  town  records  of  Providence, 
makes  rather  unsavory  reading.  It  appears 
that  she  came  to  Providence  from  Taunton  in 
1769.  Three  years  later  the  people  of  the  town 
razed  an  old  building  which  had  been  the  rendez- 
vous of  whites  and  blacks  of  the  lowest  order, 
and  Phoebe  Bowen,  who  was  in  the  house  at 
the  time,  was  brought  before  the  Town  Council. 
Again  in  1785,  another  disorderly  house,  of 
which  Phoebe  was  an  inmate,  was  broken  up 
and  she  was  imprisoned.  The  Town  Council 
ordered  her  two  children,  Polly  and  Betsey  — 
the  latter  subsequently  Madame  Jumel  —  at  that 


112  ROMANTIC    DAYS 

time  twelve  and  ten  years  old,  respectively,  to 
to  be  sent  to  the  workhouse. 

The  next  known  of  Betsey  Bowen  is  when  she 
became  an  inmate  of  the  house  of  Freelove 
Ballou,  on  Charles  Street,  Providence,  in  1794. 
This  Mrs.  Ballou  was  a  woman  of  unsavory 
reputation,  and  claimed  to  be  a  female  doctor, 
midwife,  and  probably  a  procuress.  It  was 
asserted  that  while  Betsey  was  an  inmate  of 
this  house  she  gave  birth  to  George  Washington 
Bowen.  After  this  she  is  again  lost  to  view 
for  a  series  of  years,  and  it  is  not  improbable 
that,  with  her  loose  habits  and  a  craving  for 
excitement  and  pleasure,  she  drifted  into  New 
York.  There  her  face  seems  to  have  made  her 
fortune,  and  with  that  cleverness  born  of  her 
free  and  easy  life  and  her  disposition  to  enter 
into  intrigue  for  her  own  advancement  she  formed 
an  alliance,  about  1806,  with  Stephen  Jumel, 
"  who  sailed  a  dozen  ships  and  was  king  of  the 
market  until  1812." 

Jumel  purchased  the  Morris  mansion  as  a 
home  for  his  bride.  The  old  house  was  refitted 
with  hangings,  plate  and  furniture  brought  from 
France,  the  drawing-room  being  furnished  with 
chairs  and  divans  that  had  been  the  property 
of  Marie  Antoinette.  Madame  Jumel  was  not 
admitted  to  what  was  then  considered  the 
upper  ten  of  New  York  society,  but  her  New 
Year's  feasts  were  counted  among  the  mem- 


IN    THE   EARLY   REPUBLIC    113 

orable  social  events  of  the  period  and  her  gener- 
ous hospitality  was  heartily  welcomed  by  many. 
Though  living  a  little  out  of  town  she  was  near 
enough  to  allow  her  each  day  to  display  upon 
the  city's  streets  her  gaudy  and  showy  equi- 
page. She  seems  to  have  had  a  particular  fond- 
ness for  horses  and  in  her  drives  always  employed 
four  to  draw  her  carriage;  while  at  Saratoga 
she  surprised  as  well  as  amused  many  of  the 
summer  sojourners  by  being  driven  about  in 
a  huge  carriage  of  bright  yellow,  drawn  by 
four  horses,  with  riders  clad  in  amazing  liveries. 
In  1815  the  true  character  of  the  woman, 
which  displayed  qualities  of  treachery  and  in- 
gratitude, was  illustrated  by  a  clever  and  suc- 
cessful ruse  by  which  she  gained  possession  of 
nearly  the  entire  estate  of  her  husband.  M. 
Jumel,  who  proposed  to  go  to  France  for  the 
purpose  of  prosecuting  claims  for  the  spoli- 
ation of  his  property  at  San  Domingo,  before 
doing  so  conveyed  to  trustees  the  greater  part 
of  his  property,  to  be  held  for  Madame  Jumel 
during  her  lifetime,  and  at  her  death  to  be 
transferred  to  him  or  .to  his  heirs. 

Madame  Jumel  accompanied  her  husband 
to  France,  and  while  there  he  decided  to  dispose 
of  his  property  in  the  United  States  and  to 
settle  in  his  native  country.  Madame  Jumel 
made  a  pretence  of  agreement  to  this  new  move, 
and  offered  to  become  the  agent  of  her  husband 


114  ROMANTIC    DAYS 

for  the  sale  of  his  property  in  America.  She 
was  given  a  power  of  attorney  by  her  husband 
in  1826  which  authorized  her  to  sell  for  his 
benefit  all  his  real  estate  in  the  State  of  New 
York.  With  this  important  and  all-powerful 
document  Madame  Jumel  returned  to  this 
country  and  immediately  took  entire  control 
of  the  estates  of  her  husband.  She  leased  prop- 
erty, collected  rents,  and  in  fact  transacted 
the  entire  business  necessary  in  such  matters; 
recognizing  the  advantage  she  now  had  and 
seeing  the  opportunity  now  presented  of  possess- 
ing herself  of  her  husband's  large  fortune,  she 
carried  the  scheme  to  ultimate  success.  In  her 
letters  to  her  husband  she  urged  him  not  to  sell 
the  property,  as  had  at  first  been  determined 
upon,  advancing  as  the  reason  for  her  change 
of  opinion  that  the  property  had  already 
largely  increased  in  value  and  was  becoming 
more  valuable  day  by  day.  On  the  other 
hand,  while  deceiving  her  husband  by  these 
letters,  she  was  for  a  period  of  two  years 
carrying  out  her  preconceived  scheme  for  the 
capture  of  the  fortune,  and  had  conveyed  at 
different  times  during  that  period,  by  the  au- 
thority given  her  in  the  power  of  attorney, 
all  the  property  owned  by  her  husband, 
with  the  exception  of  some  sixty-five  acres 
of  unimproved  land  at  High  Bridge.  These 
conveyances  were  made  to  an  alleged  niece  of 


IN    THE    EARLY   REPUBLIC     115 

Madame  Jumel,  who  had  been  adopted  by 
her,  and  the  property  was  reconveyed  to  Madame 
Jumel  by  the  niece.  It  seems  that  M.  Jumel 
was  never  informed  of  the  transfers  made  by  his 
wife,  and  up  to  the  day  of  his  death,  in  May, 
1832,  remained  in  ignorance  of  the  fact  that  she 
and  not  he  was  the  then-owner  of  his  immense 
estate,  valued  at  $3,000,000. 

To  aid  Madame  Jumel  in  the  legal  difficulties 
which  inevitably  ensued  after  her  husband's 
death  the  services  of  Aaron  Burr,  then  seventy- 
eight  years  old,  but  still  active  and  retaining 
much  of  his  old-time  fascination,  were  retained. 
Soon  he  was  dining  with  the  charming  widow, 
then  just  in  her  prime,  and  ere  many  months 
had  passed  was  ardently  pressing  his  suit  for 
her  hand.  When  he  proposed  marriage  she 
promptly  refused  him  but  he,  not  a  whit  dis- 
concerted, retorted  that  he  would  come  out 
again  on  a  certain  day,  bringing  a  clergyman 
with  him  —  and  he  proved  to  be  as  good  as  his 
word.  On  a  sunny  afternoon  of  July,  1833, 
he  came  riding  up  to  the  great  portico  of  her 
house,  accompanied  by  the  same  minister  who, 
half  a  century  before,  had  married  him  to 
the  mother  of  his  beloved  Theodosia;  and  he 
insisted  that  Madame  Jumel  should  then  and 
there  become  his  wife.  Alarmed  and  dismayed, 
but  fearing  a  scandal  she  reluctantly  consented 
and  they  were  married  in  the  big  drawing-room. 


116  ROMANTIC    DAYS 

Parton,  than  whom  we  could  have  no  better 
authority,  says  that  Burr,  having  now  put  at 
rest  his  lurking  fear  lest  old  age  should  find  him 
poor  and  homeless,  forgot  to  humor  wisely  the 
good  fortune  that  had  come  to  him  and  rapidly 
squandered  his  wife's  wealth.  Naturally  there 
were  bitter  quarrels,  followed  by  tardy  recon- 
ciliations. In  1834  came  a  permanent  separa- 
tion which  Madame  Jumel  effectively  clinched 
by  employing  as  counsel  the  son  and  namesake 
of  the  man  whom  Burr  had  killed  in  a  duel !  She 
lived  until  1865.  Her  former  home,  with  the 
plot  upon  which  it  stands,  became  in  1901  the 
property  of  the  city  of  New  York. 

Only  a  mile  away  (at  the  corner  of  Tenth 
Avenue  and  One  Hundred  and  Forty-second 
Street)  there  long  stood,  also,  the  house  1  from 
which  Alexander  Hamilton  rode  forth  early 
on  the  morning  of  July  11,  1804,  to  meet  his 
untimely  death. 

The  real  cause  of  Burr's  bitter  hatred  of 
Hamilton  was  the  latter's  political  activity 
against  him.  The  occasion  of  their  meeting 
was  the  press  publication  of  some  derogatory 
remarks  made  by  Hamilton  about  Burr  in 
private  letters.  Burr  had  now  ready  to  hand 
a  long-sought  excuse  for  a  private  quarrel  and, 
the  duel  being  then  a  recognized  means  of 

1Thia  was  Hamilton's  "  country-seat  ";    his  city  residence  was 
at  the  corner  of  Wall  and  Broad  Streets. 


IN    THE   EARLY   REPUBLIC     117 

settling  such  difficulties,  Hamilton  could  not 
refuse  the  challenge.  The  results  of  their 
historic  encounter  on  the  heights  of  Wee- 
hawken  were  for  Hamilton  death;  and  for  Burr 
an  enforced  banishment  which  lasted  for  many 
years.  Later  the  murderer  *  partially  rehabili- 
tated himself,  as  has  been  already  shown; 
and  in  his  more  serious  moments  he  never  failed 
to  render  due  respect  to  the  qualities  of  the 
man  he  had  killed. 

That  Burr  was  very  poor  and  very  lonely 
during  the  last  years  of  his  life  was  perhaps 
his  punishment  for  the  sins  of  his  young  man- 
hood. Parke  Godwin,  son-in-law  of  William 
Cullen  Bryant,  has  left  us  a  picture  of  Hamilton's 
slayer  weeping  at  the  grave  of  his  ancestors, 
which  certainly  makes  us  far  more  inclined  to 
pity  than  to  belabor  Aaron  Burr. 

"  It  was  during  my  student  days  at  Prince- 
ton," Godwin  says,  "  where  I  graduated  in  1834. 
One  afternoon,  in  the  late  autumn,  I  went  with 

1  That  Burr  was  regarded  as  a  murderer  and  a  sensualist  by  rep- 
resentative "  good  citizens  "  of  the  day  becomes  very  clear  as  one 
reads  the  contemporary  writings.  Dr.  John  W.  Francis,  M.  D., 
LL.  D.  says,  (in  Old  New  York,  p.  18)  "  On  the  very  afternoon  of 
that  fatal  day,  while  the  whole  city  was  in  consternation  and  on  the 
look-out,  Burr  had  already  reached  his  domicile  on  Richmond  Hill 
and  was  luxuriating  in  his  wonted  bath,  with  Rousseau's  Confessions 
in  his  hands  for  his  mental  sustenance."  In  Philip  Hone's  Diary 
under  date  of  July  3,  1833,  we  read,  "  The  celebrated  Col.  Burrxvas 
married  on  Monday  evening,  to  the  equally  celebrated  Mrs.  Jumel. 
It  is  benevolent  of  her  to  keep  the  old  man  in  his  latter  days.  One 
good  turn  deserves  another!  " 


118  ROMANTIC    DAYS 

a  fellow-student  for  a  stroll,  and  finally,  at  his 
suggestion,  we  turned  into  the  town  cemetery 
and  walked  among  the  graves  of  the  distin- 
guished men  buried  there. 

"  We  were  approaching  that  part  of  the  cem- 
etery in  which  the  presidents  of  Princeton  were 
buried  when  I  noticed  an  old  man  standing 
there  perfectly  still,  with  his  hat  off,  his  head 
bent,  and  apparently  in  deep  meditation.  Some- 
thing about  the  man's  figure  and,  perhaps, 
his  clothes  —  for  he  wore  the  conventional 
garments  of  an  earlier  time  —  led  me  suddenly 
to  suspect  that  it  was  Aaron  Burr,  up  to  whom 
my  father  had  led  me,  a  bashful  schoolboy,  so 
many  years  before.  I  motioned  to  my  compan- 
ion to  stop,  and  I  moved  a  little  to  one  side, 
so  that  I  might  see  the  man's  face  in  profile 
at  least,  and  when  I  did  that  I  knew  for  a  cer- 
tainty that  it  was  Aaron  Burr. 

"  His  face  was  very  grave,  and  its  feeble 
owner,  as  he  stood  bowed  over  the  graves  of 
his  father  and  Jonathan  Edwards,  his  grand- 
father, who  were  both  presidents  of  Princeton, 
was  oblivious  apparently  to  everything  that 
was  going  on  about  him.  Silently  my  companion 
and  I  watched  him,  and  I  am  sure  that  as  we 
strained  our  eyes,  with  a  feeling  of  awe,  towards 
him,  we  beheld  the  tears  course  down  his  withered 
cheeks  and  fall  upon  the  mounds  before  him. 
And  I  at  least  suddenly  found  myself  thinking 


IN    THE    EARLY   REPUBLIC     119 

that  this  would  be  his  last  visit  to  the  grave,  and 
that  Burr  himself  realized  it.  I  believe  that 
this  turned  out  to  be  the  case. 

"  For  perhaps  ten  minutes  he  stood  there  just 
as  we  had  first  seen  him.  At  last  he  turned 
slowly  —  it  seemed  reluctantly  —  away,  and 
with  his  head  still  bent,  his  hands  clasped  be- 
hind him,  and  his  few  straggling  gray  locks 
all  but  sweeping  his  coat  collar,  he  walked  with 
trembling  steps  out  of  the  cemetery,  not  having 
seen  us,  or,  if  he  had,  making  no  sign  to  that 
effect. 

"  Two  years  or  so  later  Aaron  Burr  himself 
was  at  rest  at  last  beside  his  father  in  that  old 
burying  ground." 

Hamilton's  grave  is  in  the  cemetery  adjoin- 
ing Trinity  Church;  and  there  rest  also  Albert 
Gallatin,  the  greatest  financier,  —  after  Ham- 
ilton, —  which  this  country  has  produced, 
William  Bradford,  the  first  New  York  printer 
and  newspaper  publisher,  Robert  Fulton,  and 
many  other  worthies  whose  names  would  be 
immediately  recognized  if  here  rehearsed.  Yet 
I  have  never  heard  that  flowers  are  often  fur- 
tively scattered  on  the  graves  of  any  of  these 
great  men;  and  such  is  true  of  the  grave  of 
Charlotte  Temple,  which  may  also  be  found  in 
this  historic  spot.  An  old  New  Yorker,  writing 
to  the  Evening  Post  (September  12,  1903),  de- 
clared, "  When  I  was  a  boy  the  story  of  Char- 


120  ROMANTIC    DAYS 

lotte  Temple  was  familiar  in  the  household  of 
every  New  Yorker.  The  first  tears  I  ever  saw 
in  the  eyes  of  a  grown  person  were  shed  for  her. 
In  that  churchyard  are  graves  of  heroes,  phi- 
losophers and  martyrs,  whose  names  are  familiar 
to  the  youngest  scholar  and  whose  memory  is 
dear  to  the  wisest  and  best.  Their  graves, 
though  marked  by  imposing  monuments,  win 
but  a  glance  of  curiosity,  while  the  turf  over 
Charlotte  Temple  is  kept  fresh  by  falling  tears." 
Read  Mrs.  Rowson's  story  1  if  you  would 
understand  why  this  is  true.  For  in  spite  of 
its  old-fashioned  tone,  its  halting  grammar  and 
its  somewhat  obtrusive  moralizing,  this  romance 
is  as  freshly  moving  today  as  when  its  first 
American  edition  appeared  in  1 794 .  In  a  previous 
book  of  mine  I  have  given  an  extended  sketch 
of  Mrs.  Rowson's  life  so  I  will  here  confine  myself 
to  New  York's  connection  with  the  novel  which 
made  her  famous.  She  always  maintained  that 
the  story  of  Charlotte  Temple  was  a  true  story, 
and  it  is  pretty  well  established  now  that  the 
Montraville  of  the  romance  was  her  own  cousin, 
Colonel  John  Montresor,  who,  when  lieutenant 
in  the  British  army,  induced  the  original  of 
the  "  Charlotte  "  in  the  story  "  to  leave  her 
home  (in  1774)  and  embark  with  him  and  his 

1  A.  new  edition  with  carefully-restored  text  and  valuable  notes 
has  recently  been  published  by  Funk  and  Wagnalls. 
1  Old  Boston  Days  and  Ways,  p.  433. 


THE    WE.ST    FRONT    OF   TRINITY    CHURCH    SHOWING    GRAVE  -  YARD. 
Prom  an  old  print. 


THOMAS    PAINE    IN    1792. 
Page  152. 


IN    THE    EARLY  REPUBLIC     121 

regiment  for  New  York,  where  he  most  cruelly 
abandoned  her."  Mrs.  Rowson  herself  said, 
in  the  Preface  to  Charlotte  Temple,  printed  two 
years  after  the  death  of  the  officer  in  question: 
"  The  circumstances  on  which  I  have  founded 
this  novel  were  related  to  me  some  little  time 
since  by  an  old  lady  who  had  personally  known 
Charlotte,"  This  "  old  lady  "  was  probably 
the  Mrs.  Beauchamp  of  the  story,  whose  hus- 
band was  an  officer  in  the  English  army  and 
served  in  America.  Mrs.  Rowson  heard  the 
story  from  Mrs.  Beauchamp  after  the  Revolu- 
tion, when  the  army  had  returned  and  they  first 
met  in  England.  It  was  in  England  that  the 
book  was  written,  and  there  in  1790  it  was  first 
published.  "  I  have  thrown  over  the  whole," 
continues  the  Preface,  "  a  slight  veil  of  fiction 
and  substituted  names  and  places  according 
to  my  own  fancy.  The  principal  characters 
are  now  consigned  to  the  silent  tomb:  it  can 
therefore  hurt  the  feelings  of  no  one." 

Charlotte's  "  tomb "  is  in  the  northern 
part  of  Trinity  Churchyard,  between  the  eastern 
pathway  and  the  iron  fence  that  faces  Broadway, 
and  is  marked  by  a  long  brownstone  slab,  well 
sunk  into  the  surrounding  soil  and  bearing  with- 
out date  or  other  inscription  the  name  "  Char- 
lotte Temple."  In  the  absence  of  authenticated 
records  local  historians,  of  course,  object  from 
time  to  time  that  there  is  absolutely  nothing 


122  ROMANTIC    DAYS 

to  prove  that  this  is  the  grave  of  the  heroine 
of  Mrs.  Rowson's  story.  But  in  the  family  of 
Mrs.  Rowson  there  has  come  down  from  the 
writer  herself  a  fixed  belief  that  the  stone  is 
authentic;  and  Mrs.  Rowson  survived  Char- 
lotte's death  forty-nine  years,  time  enough, 
surely,  in  which  to  establish  an  effective  denial. 
Not  that  this  is  the  original  stone  or  that  it  still 
marks  the  resting-place  of  Charlotte's  ashes, 
save  in  a  poetic  sense!  After  the  visit,  in  1800, 
of  Charlotte's  daughter  to  her  mother's  grave, 
the  first  simple  uninscribed  headstone  was  re- 
placed by  the  one  which  still  survives;  and  some- 
what later  Charlotte's  remains  were  removed 
to  England.  The  betrayed  girl's  real  name  is 
believed  to  have  been  Charlotte  Stanley  and 
it  is  further  understood  that  she  was  the  daugh- 
ter of  an  English  clergyman  and  the  grand- 
daughter of  an  English  earl.  The  house  to 
which  Charlotte  was  taken  by  her  betrayer, 
described  in  the  story  as  a  "  small  house  a  few 
miles  from  New  York,"  has  been  identified 
by  Henry  B.  Dawson  1  as  situated  at  what  is 
now  the  corner  of  Pell  Street  and  the  Bowery. 
Which  means  that  the  house  was  then  really 
in  the  country.  For  the  word  bouwerij  is 
Dutch  for  farm  or  country-seat,  and  Bowery 


1  Introduction  to  "  New  York  City  During  the  American 
lion;  being  a  Collection  of  Original  Papers  Belonging  to  the  Mercantile 
Library  Association,"  published  in  1861. 


IN    THE   EARLY   REPUBLIC     123 

Lane,  so  called  because  it  ran  through  the  country 
estate  of  Peter  Stuyvesant,  was  then  largely 
given  over  to  the  houses  of  well-to-do  citizens. 
(It  will  be  recalled  that  it  was  while  Mrs.  Beau- 
champ  was  "  walking  in  the  garden,  leaning 
on  her  husband's  arm,"  that  she  heard  "  poor 
Charlotte "  playing  the  harp  and  singing  a 
heartbreaking  song  in  her  garden,  which  ad- 
joined.) 

Very  many  interesting  reminiscences  hover 
about  this  end  of  the  Bowery.  From  the  Bull's 
Head  Tavern  at  number  17  the  Boston  stage 
was  wont  to  take  its  noisy  departure,  and  one 
of  Washington  Irving's  biographers  credits  to 
the  comings  and  goings  that  the  impressionable 
boy  here  witnessed  the  famous  writer's  "  ram- 
bling propensity."  For  half  a  century  the 
Bull's  Head  remained  the  most  popular  meet- 
ing-place of  the  butchers  of  the  town  l  and  the 
drovers  of  the  countryside.  Then  it  was  torn 
down  and  in  1826  a  theatre  —  the  New  York, 
soon  to  be  called  the  American  and  not  long 

1  According  to  the  Autobiography  of  N.  T.  Hubbard  the  population 
of  New  York  in  1798  was  about  70,000.  At  this  time  there  were 
no  buildings  in  Broadway  above  Chambers  Street  —  except  scatter- 
ing ones  —  and  "  there  were  not  sixty  houses,  in  all,  in  Brooklyn 
from  the  Navy  Yard  to  the  South  Ferry.  We  then  crossed  to  Brook- 
lyn in  small  boats.  The  fare  was  6d .  Some  years  after  a  horse-boat? 
conveyed  passengers  across  the  river."  For  a  condensed  but  illumi- 
nating statement  of  the  astonishing  rapidity  with  which  the  city 
grew,  between  this  time  and  1825,  see  McMaster's  History  of  the 
People  of  the  United  States,  Vol.  V,  p.  122  el  seq. 


124  ROMANTIC    DAYS 

thereafter  to  become  the  Bowery  —  was  erected 
on  its  site. 

Four  times  in  the  course  of  the  years  this 
Bowery  playhouse  was  burned  down  and  re- 
built. For  fifty  years  almost  every  English- 
speaking  actor  of  note  trod  its  stage.  The 
house  opened  with  a  company  which  included 
Ann  Duff  and  George  Barrett;  Charlotte  Cush- 
man  made  here  her  first  New  York  appearance 
as  Lady  Macbeth  in  1836;  George  Jones,  known 
in  old  age  as  the  eccentric  Count  Johannes 
but  then  a  young  and  handsome  actor,  here  won 
success;  and  on  this  stage,  also,  Priscilla  Cooper, 
who  was  later  to  be  lady  of  the  White  House 
during  the  presidency  of  her  husband's  father, 
John  Tyler,  delighted  for  a  period  that  curious 
product  of  the  early  nineteenth  century,  the 
Bowery  Boy, 

Bowery  Boys  were  youths  who  worked  for 
their  living  on  week  days  but  in  the  evenings 
and  on  holidays  aimed  only  to  be  dandies  and 
firemen.  Dayton  thus  describes  a  typical  rep- 
resentative of  this  peculiarly  New  York  prod- 
uct which  went  out  with  the  Civil  War:  "  His 
hair  was  one  of  his  chief  cares  and  from  appear- 
ance the  engrossing  object  of  his  solicitude.  It 
was  cropped  at  the  back  of  the  head  as  closely 
as  scissors  could  cut,  while  the  long  front  locks 
were  stiffened  with  bear's  grease  and  then 
rolled  and  pushed  until  they  shone  like  glass 


IN    THE   EARLY   REPUBLIC     125 

bottles.  His  face  was  closely  shaven  as  beards 
in  any  shape  were  considered  effeminate  and  so 
forbidden  by  his  creed.  A  black  straight  broad- 
brimmed  hat,  polished  as  highly  as  the  hot  iron 
could  effect,  was  worn  with  a  pitch  forward 
and  a  slight  inclination  to  one  side  intended 
to  impart  a  rakish  air.  A  large  shirt  collar 
turned  down  and  loosely  fashioned  so  as  to 
expose  the  full  proportions  of  the  brawny  neck; 
a  black  frock  coat  with  skirts  extending  below 
the  knee;  a  flashy  satin  or  velvet  vest  cut  so 
low  as  to  expose  the  entire  bosom  of  a  shirt 
often  embroidered;  trousers  tight  to  the  knee 
and  thence  gradually  swelling  in  size  to  the 
bottom  so  as  nearly  to  conceal  feet  encased  in 
high  polished  boots  "  —  these  were  his  habil- 
iments. Jewelry  that  flashed,  perfume  that 
cried  out  for  recognition  and  a  voice  pitched 
like  a  fire  trumpet,  completed  the  picture  of 
the  Bowery  Boy.  He  walked  with  arms  akimbo 
when  on  parade,  and  if  anybody  jostled  him 
he  was  insulted;  and  when  he  was  insulted, 
he  fought.  Rough,  rather  than  tough,  another 
of  his  admiring  biographers  records  that,  desir- 
ous of  punching  somebody  at  all  times,  he  es- 
pecially liked  to  punch  persons  who  were  rude 
or  cruel  to  the  female  sex,  and  that  he  scorned 
to  use  any  weapons  save  those  that  nature  gave 
him.  So,  with  his  fists  and  the  vigorous  use 
of  a  language  all  his  own,  this  curious  creature 


126  ROMANTIC    DAYS 

compelled  the  awe,  if  not  the  respect,  of  the  New 
York  of  his  time. 

The  first  New  York  theatre  of  which  we  have 
definite  information  was  situated  on  the  east  side 
of  Nassau  Street,  previously  known  as  Kip 
Street,  in  the  vicinity  of  the  Dutch  Church. 
The  auditorium  here  accommodated  barely  three 
hundred  persons,  and  Murray  and  Kean  were  the 
managers.  Their  company  was  disbanded  on 
July  8,  1751  and,  six  months  thereafter,  the 
"  Nassau  Street  Theatre "  was  reopened  by 
Robert  Upton.  The  Hallams,  who  should  be 
considered  the  real  fathers  of  the  American 
stage,  and  of  whom  we  have  heard  in  the  Phil- 
adelphia chapter,  are,  however,  the  actors  best 
known  in  connection  with  this  house.  Their 
plays  were  well  put  on  and  drew  large  and  ap- 
preciative audiences.  The  next  theatre  in  New 
York  was  situated  on  Cruger's  wharf  and  opened 
on  December  28,  1758,  with  Rowe's  "  Jane 
Shore  ";  in  a  couple  of  months  it  was  announ- 
cing its  last  performance. 

A  somewhat  longer  and  much  more  exciting 
career  was  enjoyed  by  the  Chapel  Street  Theatre, 
situated  near  Nassau  Street,  on  the  south  side 
of  Beekman  Street,  then  styled  Chapel  Street. 
Through  "  cards  "  preserved  to  us  in  the  col- 
umns of  Gaine's  Mercury  we  have  convincing 
proof  that  the  audience  at  this  house  sometimes 
thoroughly  enjoyed  itself.  The  first  reads: 


IN   THE   EARLY   REPUBLIC    127 

"  Complaints  having  been  several  times  made 
that  a  number  of  gentlemen  crowd  the  stage  and 
very  much  interrupt  the  performance,  and  as  it  is 
impossible  that  the  actors,  when  thus  obstructed, 
should  do'that  justice  to  their  parts  they  otherwise 
would,  it  will  be  taken  as  a  particular  favour  if  no 
gentleman  is  offended  that  he  is  absolutely  re- 
fused admission  at  the  stage  door,  unless  he  has 
previously  secured  himself  a  place  in  either  the 
stage  or  upper  boxes."  The  other  card  states: 
"  Theatre  in  New  York,  May  3,  1762.  A  pistole 
reward  will  be  given  to  whoever  can  discover 
the  person  who  was  so  very  rude  as  to  throw 
Eggs  from  the  Gallery  upon  the  stage  last 
Monday,  by  which  the  Cloaths  of  some  ladies 
and  gentlemen  were  spoiled,  and  the  performance 
in  some  measure  interrupted.  D.  Douglass." 
The  Chapel  Street  Theatre  was  superseded 
by  the  John  Street  Theatre,  situated  near 
Broadway.  Performances  here  began  at  six 
o'clock,  ladies  sending  their  servants  at  four 
to  keep  seats  for  them.  One  member  of  a  com- 
pany which  acted  here  before  the  Revolution 
was  a  granddaughter  of  Colley  Cibber.  During 
the  occupation  of  New  York  by  the  British 
amateur  performances  were  several  times  given 
here  for  charity,  the  actors  being  the  brilliant 
young  officers  of  the  invading  army.  After 
the  Revolution  there  was  the  same  endeavor 
to  suppress  the  drama  in  New  York  that  we  have 


128  ROMANTIC   DAYS 

seen  in  other  cities.  But  nothing  was  accom- 
plished, Washington  and  Adams  sturdily  attend- 
ing performances  at  the  John  Street  house 
whenever  opportunity  offered.  The  last  per- 
formance which  took  place  here  occurred  in 
January,  1798. 

None  of  the  houses  thus  far  named  equals 
in  interest,  however,  the  Park  Theatre,  whose 
history  is  second  to  that  of  no  other  playhouse 
in  America.  It  stood  on  Park  Row,  facing  what 
was  then  the  lower  part  of  City  Hall  Park,  with 
a  frontage  of  eighty  feet  and  a  depth  of  one  hun- 
dred and  sixty-five  feet.  Theatre  Alley  at  the 
back  of  this  site  gets  its  name  logically.  Two 
thousand  persons  could  easily  be  seated  within 
the  auditorium  of  this  house.  And  though  it 
boasted  no  architectural  magnificence,  it  had 
cost  its  managers,  Hodgkinson  and  Dunlap,  no 
less  than  $130,000  when  it  opened,  in  a  some- 
what unfinished  condition,  on  January  29,  1798. 
Hodgkinson  almost  immediately  retired  from 
the  management  leaving  the  control  to  William 
Dunlap,  first  historian  of  the  American  theatre. 
But  Dunlap  was  soon  forced  into  bankruptcy, 
and  several  other  managers,  also,  found  them- 
selves at  this  time  unable  to  make  money  here. 

After  the  first  building  had  burned  down  and 
another  had  replaced  it  (in  1821)  brighter  days 
dawned.  Edmund  Simpson  then  came  to  be 
manager  for  more  than  a  quarter  of  a  century, 


IN    THE    EARLY   REPUBLIC     129 

and  during  this  time  most  of  the  great  actors 
of  the  day  were  here  presented.  Cooke,  Kean, 
Kemble,  Booth  and  Wallack  are  only  a  few  of 
the  illustrious  names  associated  with  the  history 
of  this  house.  Cooke's  first  appearance  in 
America  occurred  here  on  November  21,  1810, 
and  Dr.  Francis,  who  greatly  admired  his  work, 
tells  us  in  his  Old  New  York  that  he  "  eclipsed 
all  predecessors."  A  little  over  two  years  later 
the  great  actor  died  in  New  York  and  was 
buried  in  St.  Paul's  Churchyard.  There  is 
extant  a  painting  containing  a  portrait  of  Kean 
and  Dr.  Francis  at  his  tomb.  Through  the 
trees  of  the  picture  may  be  descried  the  outlines 
of  the  second  Park  Theatre.  It  was  at  the  Park 
Theatre  in  1822  that  Junius  Brutus  Booth  first 
appeared  as  Richard  III.  Francis  records  that 
"  although  this  actor  lacked  judgment  he  pos- 
sessed genius."  Also  in  1822  appeared  here 
Charles  Mathews,  Sr.,  frightened  nearly  out  of 
his  wits,  as  Dr.  Francis  humorously  admits, 
at  discovering  that  New  York  was  undergoing 
one  of  its  periodic  attacks  of  yellow  fever  just 
as  he  arrived. 

At  the  Park  in  1826,  Macready,  Edwin 
Forrest  and  James  H.  Hackett  each  made  a 
New  York  debut,  and  there  on  Wednesday 
evening,  September  1,  1830,  Charles  Kean  re- 
ceived the  plaudits  of  the  discriminating.  Here 
also  it  was  that  Charles  Kemble  and  his  daugh- 


130  ROMANTIC   DAYS 

ter,  Frances  Anne  Kemble,  scored  their  initial 
American  success,  the  former  in  the  title  role 
of  "  Hamlet "  and  the  latter  as  Bianca  in 
"  Fazio." 

Nor  were  the  triumphs  of  the  Park  confined  to 
the  drama,  for  the  first  Italian  opera  ever  heard 
in  the  Western  world,  Rossini's  "  The  Barber 
of  Seville,"  was  produced  on  its  stage  in  Novem- 
ber, 1825,  with  Manuel  Garcia,  the  incomparable 
tenor,  as  Almaviva,  and  his  daughter,  Maria 
Garcia,  as  Rosina.  The  "  Signorina,"  as  Maria 
was  called  by  the  critics  of  the  day,  made  an  im- 
mediate and  a  prolonged  success  by  reason  of 
her  beautiful  face,  charming  manners  and  golden 
voice.  Twice  a  week  for  nearly  a  year  fashion- 
able New  York  flocked  to  hear  her  sing.  Then 
the  father  set  off  for  Mexico  and  the  daughter 
married  Eugene  Malibran,  a  French  merchant 
resident  in  New  York,  who  was  supposed  to  be 
wealthy  but  soon  turned  out  to  be  a  bankrupt. 
He  was  imprisoned  for  debt  and  his  young  wife, 
thrown  on  her  own  resources,  secured  a  position 
in  the  choir  of  Grace  Church,  then  in  Broadway 
below  Rector  Street,  and  played  several  engage- 
ments in  the  theatre  afterwards  known  as  the 
Bowery.  Then  she  left  for  Paris,  where  her 
career  was  one  succession  of  triumphs  until 
her  untimely  death  at  the  age  of  twenty-nine. 

Inasmuch  as  for  half  a  century  the  Park 
Theatre  was  the  background  of  all  that  is  most 


JOHN    JACOB    ASTOR. 
From  the  portrait  by  Gilbert  Stuart. 


IN    THE    EARLY   REPUBLIC     131 

interesting  in  New  York's  dramatic  history  it 
is  pleasant  to  know  something  of  how  the  house 
looked.  Its  walls  were  of  brick;  its  stuccoed 
front  and  wooden  steps  were  painted  gray  and 
lined  with  black  to  imitate  blocks  of  granite; 
and  in  a  niche  of  the  front  wall  stood  a  bust  of 
Shakespeare.  The  pit  was  furnished  with  wooden 
benches  and  the  first  tier  divided  into  a  series 
of  lock-boxes.  Men  about  town,  bachelors 
and  clerks  occupied  the  pit,  families  and  women 
the  tier  of  boxes.  A  separate  stairway  led  to 
the  gallery  and  to  the  third  tier,  which  came 
to  be  a  meeting-place  for  the  dissolute  of  both 
sexes;  the  gallery  was  given  up  to  apprentice- 
boys,  servants,  sailors  and  negroes,  the  last 
named  occupying  a  place  apart.  Drinking-bars, 
in  connection  with  apple,  pie  and  peanut  stands 
were  adjacent  to  the  pit,  gallery  and  third  tier. 
Peanuts  were  munched  in  the  pit;  apples  and 
oranges,  during  recess  in  the  boxes.  Mrs. 
Trollope  1  records  that  it  was  not  uncommon 
to  see  male  occupants  of  the  first  tier  in  shirt 
sleeves,  but  this  could  scarcely  have  been  true 
on  the  occasions  when  distinguished  players 

1  Unexpected  confirmation  of  this  lady's  strictures  of  us  —  be- 
cause of  our  bad  manners  —  may  be  found  in  newspaper  advertise- 
ments early  in  the  century.  The  New  York  Evening  Post  of  March 
2,  1802,  acquaints  those  who  would  become  patrons  of  the  Juvenile 
Assembly,  held  at  the  Old  Assembly  Rooms,  68  Williams  street, 
that  gentlemen,  when  they  appear  in  a  ball  room  wear  full  dress 
and  never  "  lounge  into  the  room  in  boots." 


132  ROMANTIC    DAYS 

from  abroad  graced  the  boards.  A  picture  of 
the  interior  of  the  Park,  on  the  November 
evening  of  1822  when  it  reopened  —  after  the 
fire  —  to  make  Charles  Mathews  welcome,  dis- 
plays a  truly  brilliant  scene  with  "  all  society  >! 
on  hand.1  The  proprietors  at  this  time  were 
John  K.  Beekman  and  John  Jacob  Astor,  the 
former  familiarly  called  '  Theatre  Jack "  by 
reason  of  his  love  of  theatricals,  and  the  latter 
known  as  the  interested  patron  of  whatever  con- 
tributed to  the  higher  life  of  New  York. 

John  Jacob  Astor  was  in  many  ways  a  most 
interesting  and  a  highly  romantic  character. 
Born  in  1763,  in  the  village  of  Waldorf,  in 
Baden,  the  son  of  a  butcher,  he  eventually 
came  to  be  one  of  the  most  distinguished  figures 
of  New  York  and  that,  too,  I  need  scarcely  add, 
for  other  reasons  than  his  financial  acumen  and 
his  great  wealth.  An  older  brother,  Henry, 
had  preceded  him  to  New  York  and  had  there 
established  himself  in  his  father's  useful  if 
humble  trade.  John  Jacob  desired  to  follow 
him  and  so  left  Waldorf  at  the  age  of  sixteen, 
set  out  on  foot  for  the  Rhine,  worked  his  passage 
down  the  river  on  a  freighter  and  arrived  in 
due  time  at  London  where  his  eldest  brother 
had  some  time  since  established  a  thriving 

1  This  is  a  water-color  drawing  made  by  John  Searle  for  William 
Bayard,  Esq.,  and  showing  Mathews  on  the  stage  as  well  as  many 
carefully  identified  social  celebrities  in  the  audience.  The  original 
may  be  seen  at  the  rooms  of  the  New  York  Historical  Society. 


IN    THE    EARLY   REPUBLIC    133 

piano  factory.  Here  the  youth  stayed  for  three 
years  diligently  acquiring  English  and  carefully 
"  saving  up  "  for  the  time  when  he  might  realize 
his  cherished  dream  of  going  to  America.  No 
sooner  was  the  independence  of  the  United 
States  declared  than  Astor,  by  this  time  a  sturdy 
lad  of  twenty,  invested  one  third  of  his  hard- 
earned  savings  in  a  ticket  for  Baltimore.  Inas- 
much as  he  had  to  cross  the  Atlantic  in  mid- 
winter he  was  subjected  to  a  long  and  wearisome 
voyage  but,  characteristically,  he  turned  this 
to  good  advantage  by  cultivating  the  acquaint- 
ance of  a  German  fellow-passenger,  who  had 
built  up  a  profitable  business  in  furs  and  skins 
and  who  confided  to  his  absorbed  young  friend 
the  secrets  of  his  success  —  how  with  a  few 
trinkets  skins  could  be  bought  from  the  Indians 
and  sold  with  great  profit  to  the  furriers  of  New 
York,  but  more  especially  how  very  profitable 
it  was  to  buy  furs  in  America  and  sell  them  in 
London. 

Astor  landed  in  Baltimore  in  March,  1784, 
and  proceeded  promptly  to  New  York,  where 
his  brother,  Henry,  who  was  very  glad  to  see  him 
secured  for  him  a  position  as  clerk  in  a  Gold 
Street  fur  store  with  a  wage  of  two  dollars  a 
week  and  an  opportunity  to  acquire  an  expert 
knowledge  of  furs.  The  following  summer 
young  Astor  made  his  first  trip  to  the  fur  country 
and  bought  a  cargo  of  pelts.  He  also  learned 


134  ROMANTIC    DAYS 

a  number  of  Indian  dialects  and  so  was  in  a 
position  to  buy  advantageously.  Thus  by 
1786  he  had  sufficient  faith  in  himself  to  com- 
mand a  few  hundred  dollars  of  borrowed  capital 
and  so  set  up  a  little  shop  in  Water  Street.  Here, 
not  being  able  at  the  outset  to  afford  a  clerk, 
he  did  everything  for  himself.  In  the  buying 
season  he  went,  pack  on  back,  far  into  the  In- 
dian country;  the  rest  of  the  year  he  personally 
prepared  the  skins  for  market.  From  the  very 
first  he  prospered,  not  the  least  lucky  of  his 
ventures  being  the  matrimonial  one  through 
which  he  acquired  a  wife  with  a  small  dowry 
and  a  genius  for  business  that  rivalled  his  own. 
The  opening  of  the  new  century  found  him  the 
employer  of  an  army  of  buyers,  trappers  and 
Indians.  Soon,  too,  he  was  able  to  take  ad- 
vantage of  his  shipmate's  hint  that  London 
afforded  a  better  market  than  did  New  York 
for  furs,  and  he  chartered  a  vessel  which  went 
over  there  laden  with  furs  and  returned  bearing 
musical  instruments.  Ere  long  he  was  sending 
vessels  around  the  world,  carrying  furs  to  Eng- 
land, France  and  Germany  and  European  manu- 
factures to  the  Orient;  from  China  he  would 
bring  back  tea  to  New  York. 

"  He  seemed,"  writes  Rufus  Rockwell  Wilson, 
"  to  possess  an  almost  intuitive  knowledge  of 
the  various  markets  in  which  he  traded,  and 
despite  the  immense  proportions  his  business 


IN    THE    EARLY   REPUBLIC    135 

had  now  assumed,  he  personally  superintended 
every  part  of  it,  exercising  a  minute  inspection 
even  to  the  smallest  details."  Astor's  office 
at  this  time  was  in  Vesey  Street  and  his  ware- 
houses in  Greenwich  between  Liberty  and  Cort- 
landt  Streets.  Of  his  "  great  national  venture," 
which  was  not  so  utterly  a  success  as  his  earlier 
enterprises  had  been,  there  is  not  space  here 
to  write  in  any  detail.  Suffice  it  to  say  that, 
instead  of  making  him,  at  middle  life,  the  richest 
man  in  the  world  he  was  only  the  richest  man 
in  America.  Great  faith  in  the  development  of 
Manhattan  Island  led  him  to  invest  large  sums 
in  real  estate  there,  following  what  seemed  to 
him  the  probable  direction  of  the  city's  growth 
and  thus,  when  he  died  at  the  age  of  eighty- 
five,  he  left  behind  him  a  fortune  of  thirty 
millions. 

Much  more  interesting  than  Astor's  wealth, 
however,  is  the  way  the  man  himself  grew  with 
his  opportunities.  He  was  always  eager  to 
improve  his  mind  and  enrich  his  life  and  so  was 
the  fondly  cherished  friend  of  many  artists  and 
men  of  letters.  Washington  Irving  was  devoted 
to  him,  and  was  glad,  when  his  personal  sorrows 
pressed  hardest  upon  him,  to  take  refuge  from 
the  world  in  Astor's  beautiful  summer  place 
near  what  is  now  Eighty -Eighth  Street.  "I 
cannot  tell  you,"  the  literary  man  once  wrote 
a  friend  from  this  spot,  "  how  sweet  and  delight- 


136  ROMANTIC    DAYS 

ful  I  have  found  this  retreat;  with  its  lawn 
in  front  and  garden  in  the  rear.  The  lawn 
sweeps  down  to  the  water-edge  and  full  in  front 
of  the  house  is  the  little  strait  of  Hell  Gate, 
which  forms  a  constantly  moving  picture.  .  .  . 
I  have  written  more  since  I  have  been  here 
than  I  have  ever  done  in  the  same  space  of 
time." 

Washington  Irving,  of  course,  peculiarly  be- 
longs to  New  York  both  by  reason  of  his  in- 
timate personal  connection  with  the  city  and 
because  of  his  delightful  Knickerbocker's  His- 
tory. This  work  (published  in  1807)  by  its 
broad  humor  won  for  its  author  a  reputation 
which  decided  for  all  time  that  he  was  cut  out 
for  a  literary  man  rather  than  for  a  lawyer. 
Irving  was  only  twenty-four  when  the  book 
appeared;  and  he  was  only  twenty-six  when  he 
encountered  that  experience  which,  for  many 
years,  saddened  his  life  and  gave  a  tinge  of 
melancholy  to  his  writings.  For  then  it  was 
that  Matilda  Hoffman,  the  exquisite  maiden 
whom  he  had  hoped  to  make  his  wife,  died  in  the 
eighteenth  year  of  her  age.  Irving  never  alluded 
to  this  part  of  his  history,  but  after  his  death, 
in  a  repository  of  which  he  always  kept  the 
key,  was  found  a  package  marked  on  the  outside 
"  Private  Mems."  Herein  was  discovered  a 
fragment  in  his  own  handwriting  telling  the 
reason  for  his  celibacy.  Here  also  was  a  minia- 


IN    THE   EARLY   REPUBLIC    137 

ture  of  great  beauty  enclosed  in  a  case,  and  a 
slip  of  paper,  on  which  was  written,  "  Matilda 
Hoffman."  His  nephew,  many  years  later, 
reprinted  some  of  the  memoranda  thus  avail- 
able.1 

"  We  saw  each  other  every  day,"  the  con- 
fession runs,  "  and  I  became  excessively  at- 
tached to  her.  .  .  .  The  passion  was  terribly 
against  my  studies.  I  felt  my  own  deficiency  and 
despaired  of  ever  succeeding  at  the  bar.  I 
could  study  anything  else  rather  than  law  and 
had  a  fatal  propensity  to  belles-lettres.  I  had 
gone  on  blindly  like  a  boy  in  love;  but  now 
I  began  to  open  my  eyes  and  be  miserable.  I 
had  nothing  in  purse  nor  in  expectation.  I 
anticipated  nothing  from  my  legal  pursuits, 
and  had  done  nothing  to  make  me  hope  for 
public  employment  or  political  elevation.  I 
had  begun  a  satirical  and  humourous  work  (The 
History  of  New  York)  in  company  with  one 
of  my  brothers;  but  he  had  gone  to  Europe 
shortly  after  commencing  it,  and  my  feelings 
had  run  into  so  different  a  vein,  that  I  could  not 
go  on  with  it.  I  became  low-spirited  and  dis- 
heartened and  didn't  know  what  was  to  be- 
come of  me. 

"  In  the  midst  of  this  struggle  and  anxiety 
Matilda  was  taken  ill  with  a  cold.  Nothing 
was  thought  of  it  at  first;  but  she  grew  rapidly 

1  Life  and  Letters  of  Washington  Irving:  New  York,  1867. 


138  ROMANTIC    DAYS 

worse  and  fell  into  a  consumption.  I  cannot 
tell  you  what  I  suffered.  The  ills  I  have  under- 
gone in  this  life  have  been  dealt  out  to  me  drop 
by  drop,  and  I  have  tasted  all  their  bitterness. 
I  saw  her  fade  rapidly  away;  beautiful  and  more 
beautiful  and  more  angelical  to  the  very  last.  .  .  . 
I  was  by  her  when  she  died;  I  was  the  last  one 
she  looked  upon.  .  .  .  For  a  long  time  I  seemed 
to  care  for  nothing;  the  world  was  a  blank  to 
me.  I  abandoned  all  thoughts  of  the  law.  I 
went  into  the  country;  but  could  not  bear 
solitude  yet  could  not  enjoy  society.  There 
was  a  dismal  horror  continually  in  my  mind  that 
made  me  fear  to  be  alone.  I  had  often  to  get 
up  in  the  night  and  seek  the  bedroom  of  my 
brother,  as  if  the  having  a  human  being  by 
me  would  relieve  me  of  my  own  thoughts. 

"  Months  elapsed  before  my  mind  would 
resume  any  tone;  but  the  despondency  I  had 
suffered  for  a  long  time  in  the  course  of  this 
attachment,  and  the  anguish  that  attended  its 
catastrophe,  seemed  to  give  a  turn  to  my  whole 
character,  and  throw  some  clouds  into  my  dis- 
position, which  have  ever  since  hung  about 
it.  ...  I  was  naturally  susceptible  and  tried 
to  form  other  attachments,  but  my  heart  would 
not  hold  on;  and  it  would  continually  recur 
to  what  it  had  lost;  and  whenever  there  was  a 
pause  in  the  hurry  of  novelty  or  excitement,  I 
would  sink  into  dismal  dejection.  For  years 


IN    THE    EARLY   REPUBLIC    139 

I  could  not  talk  on  the  subject  of  this  hopeless 
regret;  I  could  not  even  mention  her  name; 
but  her  image  was  continually  before  me,  and 
I  dreamt  of  her  incessantly." 

As  evidence  of  the  romantic  tenderness  with 
which  Irving  cherished  the  memory  of  this 
early  love  it  may  be  cited  that  all  through  life 
he  kept  by  him  Matilda's  Bible  and  Prayer- 
book.  Yet  even  those  closest  to  him  never 
ventured  to  mention  her  name,  one  instance 
only  having  come  down  to  us  of  an  exception 
to  this.  Then  it  was  Matilda's  father  who  made 
the  reference  and  that  in  his  own  house  thirty 
years  after  the  lovely  girl's  death!  A  grand- 
daughter had  been  requested  to  play  for  Mr. 
Hoffman  some  favorite  piece  upon  the  piano 
and  in  extracting  her  music  from  the  drawer 
had  accidentally  brought  forth  a  piece  of  em- 
broidery with  it.  '  Washington,"  said  the  older 
man,  picking  up  the  faded  relic,  "  this  is  a 
piece  of  poor  Matilda's  workmanship."  In- 
stantly Irving,  who  had  been  conversing  gaily 
a  moment  before,  sunk  into  utter  silence 
and  in  a  few  moments  got  up  and  left  the 
house. 

One  of  the  most  delightful  bits  of  New  York 
description  which  Irving  has  left  us  is  his  ac- 
count of  a  voyage  up  the  Hudson  before  the 
day  of  steamboats.  "  In  the  good  old  times," 
he  says,  "  before  steamboats  and  railroads  had 


140  ROMANTIC    DAYS 

annihilated  time  and  space  and  driven  all  poetry 
and  romance  out  of  travel,  a  voyage  to  Albany 
was  equal  to  a  voyage  to  Europe  at  present  and 
took  almost  as  much  time.  We  enjoyed  the 
beauties  of  the  river  in  those  days;  the  features 
of  note  were  not  all  jumbled  together,  nor  the 
towns  or  villages  huddled  one  into  the  other  by 
railroad  speed  as  they  are  now. 

"  I  was  to  make  the  voyage  under  the  pro- 
tection of  a  relative  of  mature  age;  one  experi- 
enced in  the  river.  His  first  care  was  to  look 
out  for  a  favourite  sloop,  and  captain,  in  which 
there  was  great  choice.  The  constant  voyaging 
in  the  river-craft  by  the  best  families  of  New 
York  and  Albany  made  the  merits  of  captains 
and  sloops  matters  of  notoriety  and  discussion 
in  both  cities.  Captains  were  mediums  of 
communication  between  separated  friends  and 
families.  On  the  arrival  of  one  of  them  at  either 
place,  he  had  messages  to  deliver  and  communica- 
tions to  execute  which  took  him  from  house 
to  house.  ...  In  this  way  the  captains  of 
Albany  sloops  were  personages  of  more  note 
in  the  community  than  captains  of  European 
packets  or  steamships  at  the  present  day.  .  .  . 

"  At  length  the  sloop  actually  got  under  way. 
As  she  worked  out  of  the  dock  into  the  stream 
there  was  a  great  exchange  of  last  words  be- 
tween friends  on  board  and  friends  on  shore  and 
much  waving  of  handkerchiefs  when  the  sloop 


IN    THE   EARLY   REPUBLIC     141 

was  out  of  hearing.  Our  captain  was  a  worthy 
man,  native  of  Albany,  one  of  the  old  Dutch 
stock.  His  crew  was  composed  of  blacks  reared 
in  the  family,  and  belonging  to  him;  for  negro 
slavery  still  existed  in  the  state.  All  his  com- 
munications with  them  were  in  Dutch.  They 
were  obedient  to  his  orders;  though  they  oc- 
casionally had  much  previous  discussion  on  the 
wisdom  of  them  and  were  sometimes  positive 
in  maintaining  an  opposite  opinion.  This  was 
especially  the  case  with  an  old  gray-headed 
negro  who  had  sailed  with  the  captain's  father 
when  the  captain  was  a  mere  boy  and  who 
was  very  crabbed  and  conceited  on  points  of 
seamanship.  I  observed  that  the  captain  gen- 
erally let  him  have  his  own  way." 

The  day  of  steam  was,  however,  at  hand  and 
the  very  year  which  gave  Diedrich  Knicker- 
bocker to  literature  gave  Fulton's  first  passen- 
ger boat,  the  Clermont  to  navigation.  Fulton 
was  the  son  of  a  Scotch  innkeeper  settled  in 
Pennsylvania,  and  had  begun  life  as  an  artist, 
studying  for  several  years  with  Benjamin  West 
in  London.  But  the  application  of  the  steam- 
engine  to  ship  propulsion  had  early  begun  to 
interest  him  and  when  chance  threw  into  his 
way,  at  Paris,  Robert  R.  Livingston,  then  Ameri- 
can minister  to  the  French  court,  who  was  also 
an  enthusiast  on  this  subject,  he  began  to  focus 
his  experiments  upon  the  production  of  a  boat 


142  ROMANTIC    DAYS 

the  average  speed  of  which  should  be  not  less 
than  four  miles  an  hour.  Livingston  had  se- 
cured the  exclusive  right  for  a  term  of  years 
to  steam  navigation  in  all  waters  within  the 
limits  of  New  York  State  provided  he  could 
produce  a  boat  meeting  this  particular  condition, 
and  Fulton,  therefore,  set  himself  diligently 
to  work  to  turn  out  such  a  boat.  The  Cler- 
mont,  in  its  very  first  journey  to  Albany, 
averaged  five  miles  an  hour!  At  just  about 
the  same  time,  it  is  interesting  to  note,  Colonel 
John  Stevens  of  Hoboken,  who  for  a  dozen 
years  had  been  experimenting  along  this  same 
line,  perfected  his  Phoenix,  through  which 
he  won  the  mastery  of  the  adjacent  waters  of 
the  ocean.  It  was  a  dozen  years  more,  however, 
before  any  steamboat  actually  crossed  the  At- 
lantic; and  then  the  trip  (made  by  the  Sa- 
vannah in  May,  1819)  occupied  twenty  -  two 
days.  Another  twenty  years  passed  ere  the 
new  method  of  travel  came  into  general  use. 
New  Yorkers  had  not  yet  acquired  the  habit 
of  going  abroad  each  summer. 

The  evolution  of  the  feeling  that  summer  is 
the  natural  time  for  a  universal  hegira  is  very 
interesting  for  at  the  period  of  the  Revolution 
there  were  not  even  c?a?/-excursions  of  irresistible 
attractiveness.  A  small  party  could  ride  out 
to  Murray  Hill  in  a  hired  carriage  and  be  gone 
half  a  day  for  fourteen  shillings,  or  by  paying 


IN    THE    EARLY   REPUBLIC    143 

two  shillings  more  could  reach  Gracie's  Point 
opposite  Hell  Gate.  But  Long  Branch  and 
Saratoga  were  only  just  beginning  to  be  known; 
in  1789  about  a  dozen  respectable  persons,  in- 
cluding two  or  three  New  Yorkers,  found  them- 
selves "  at  a  wretched  tavern  at  Saratoga." 
Their  opportunities  for  pleasure  were  such  as 
may  be  had  in  a  place  where  bathing  accommo- 
dations "  consist  of  an  open  log  hut,  with  a 
large  trough,  similar  to  those  in  use  for  feeding 
swine,  which  receives  the  water  from  the  spring; 
into  this  you  roll  from  off  a  bench!  "  1 

Mostly  New  Yorkers  still  summered  in  New 
York,  snatching  from  the  experience  what 
pleasures  they  could.  Horse-racing  was  a  great 
solace;  and  as  the  hour  set  for  the  races  was 
invariably  one  o'clock  it  would  seem  that  the 
city  summer  could  scarcely  have  been  so  in- 
tolerable then  as  it  is  now.  After  the  race  — 
in  which  the  horses  usually  ran  instead  of  trotted 
—  the  more  select  portion  of  the  spectators 
would  travel  to  one  or  another  of  the  garden 
club-houses  on  the  river-bank,  for  supper. 
Those  who  were  not  of  "  society  "  would  journey 
to  a  public  music-garden  to  drink  tea  —  or 
something  stronger  —  to  the  accompaniment 
of  sweet  sounds.  One  very  popular  place  of 
this  kind  was  called  Vauxhall,  a  name,  indeed, 
successively  applied  to  several  different  places 

Watson. 


144  ROMANTIC    DAYS 

the  best  known  of  which  survived  until  1855 
at  just  about  where  the  Astor  Library  now  stands. 
Niblo's  Garden  dates  from  1830. l 

No  description  that  has  come  down  to  us  of 
attractions  at  these  later  resorts  equals  in  charm, 
however,  that  left  by  the  Rev.  William  Burnaby, 
an  English  traveller,  who  visited  the  city  in 
the  last  days  of  the  colonial  period  and  has  told 
us  of  "  several  houses  pleasantly  situated  up  the 
East  River,  near  New  York,  where  it  is  common 
to  have  turtle-feasts.  These  happen  once  or 
twice  a  week.  Thirty  or  forty  gentlemen  and 
ladies  meet  and  dine  together;  drink  tea  in 
the  afternoon,  fish  and  amuse  themselves 
until  evening,  and  then  return  home  in 
Italian  chaises,  a  gentleman  and  lady  in  each 
chaise." 

Castle  Garden,  which  in  later  years  we  have 
come  to  associate  with  incoming  tides  of  Eu- 
ropean immigration,  was  a  very  fashionable 
resort  in  the  twenties  of  the  last  century.  On 
summer  evenings  its  rows  of  wooden  benches 
would  be  thronged  by  the  quality  of  the  town; 
and  there  Lafayette  landed,  on  his  return  to 
America  in  1824,  "on  a  carpeted  stairway 

1  Early  in  1830,  also,  we  find  in  Philip  Hone's  Diary  a  delightful 
allusion  to  Delmonico's,  then  just  launched.  "  We  satisfied  our 
curiosity  but  not  our  appetites,"  writes  Hone,  "  and  I  think  we  are 
prepared,  when  our  opinions  are  asked,  to  say  with  the  Irishman 
who  used  lamp-oil  with  his  salad  instead  of  olive-oil,  that,  if  it  were 
not  for  the  name  of  the  thing,  he  had  as  lief  eat  butter." 


IN    THE    EARLY   REPUBLIC    145 

arranged  for  the  occasion,  under  an  arch  richly 
decorated  with  flags  and  wreaths  of  laurel." 
Later,  after  the  nation's  guest  had  made  a  tour 
of  other  cities,  "  a  splendid  fete  and  gala  was 
given  to  him  at  Castle  Garden,  which  for  gran- 
deur, expense  and  entire  effect  was  never  before 
witnessed  in  this  country.  About  six  thousand 
persons  were  assembled  in  that  immense  area, 
and  the  evening  being  clear  and  calm,  the  whole 
passed  off  happily,  owing  to  the  excellent  ar- 
rangements of  the  committee." 

Nothing  which  may  be  written  of  the  early 
Republic,  either  in  connection  with  New  York 
or  any  of  the  other  cities,  is  more  satisfying  than 
the  welcome  we  extended  to  Lafayette  in  1824. 
The  noble  old  Frenchman  had  absolutely  no 
idea  what  awaited  him  and  on  the  voyage  over 
was  heard  to  make  anxious  inquiries  of  his 
fellow-passengers  as  to  the  cost  of  living  and 
the  price  of  travel  in  America.  Obviously,  he 
was  fearful  that  his  depleted  purse  might  not 
be  able  to  cope  with  the  exigencies  of  the  sit- 
uation! As  his  ship  neared  New  York  harbor, 
a  great  number  of  sailing-craft  of  all  kinds, 
some  bearing  bands  of  music  and  all  flying  flags, 
met  his  eye  and  he  asked  as  innocently  as  did 
the  other  passengers,  "  What  does  it  mean?  " 
He  finally  conjectured  that  it  must  betoken 
some  anniversary  of  the  American  Republic 
of  which  he  had  not  heard.  Yet  all  this  was, 


146  ROMANTIC    DAYS 

of  course,  to  greet  him.1  And  throughout  his 
long  journey  it  was  everywhere  the  same. 

Lafayette's  New  York  headquarters  were  at 
the  City  Hotel,  a  house  which  was  to  the  opening 
years  of  the  last  century  what  the  Astor  House 
became  to  its  middle  period.  Here  on  February 
22,  1819,  a  grand  ball  had  been  given  by  the 
Fourteenth  Regiment  in  honor  of  General  Andrew 
Jackson,  and  here,  at  a  considerably  later  time, 
Dickens  was  entertained.  It  was  a  favorite 
resort  of  literary  men  when  they  were  in  funds. 
At  other  times  they  were  more  likely  to  be 
found  at  the  Shakespeare  Tavern  at  the  corner 
of  Nassau  and  Fulton  Streets. 

One  writer  has  said  that  the  Shakespeare 
Tavern  was  to  New  York  in  the  early  nine- 
teenth century  what  the  Mermaid  was  to  London 
in  the  days  of  Shakespeare  and  the  Turk's 
Head  and  St.  James  Coffee  House  to  that  same 
city  at  the  time  of  Garrick,  Goldsmith  and  Sir 
Joshua  Reynolds.  From  the  fact  that  the 
Shakespeare's  manager,  Thomas  Hodgkinson, 
was  brother  of  the  one-time  manager  of  the 
Park  Theatre  it  became,  and  long  continued, 
a  great  resort  for  the  wits  of  the  day.  And  for 

1  Watson  gives  an  interesting  anecdote  to  prove  that  the  Revo- 
lution had  meant,  in  some  degree  at  any  rate,  the  abolition  of  class- 
distinctions  in  America.  "  But  where  are  the  people?  "  Lafayette 
is  said  to  have  inquired  as  he  looked  at  the  prosperous  folk  come  out 
to  greet  him.  Before  the  Revolution  any  workman  wore  his  leather 
apron  when  on  the  street,  "  and  never  had  on  a  long  coat." 


IN    THE   EARLY   REPUBLIC    147 

workers  and  writers  who  were  not  so  witty, 
too !  Here  De  Witt  Clinton  was  wont  to  discuss 
his  project  of  the  Erie  Canal  and  beneath  this 
hospitable  roof  towards  the  end  of  its  life  (it 
was  demolished  in  1836)  merchants,  politicians 
and  "  military  men  "  gathered  often  for  stimulus 
and  refreshment. 

As  the  nineteenth  century  was  nearing  the 
end  of  its  first  quarter  there  began  to  be  founded 
the  forerunners  of  those  hosts  of  Bohemian 
eating-clubs  which  now  flourish  in  New  York. 
Perhaps  the  most  interesting  of  these  was  the 
Bread  and  Cheese  Club,  originated  in  1824 
through  the  instrumentality  of  James  Feni- 
more  Cooper.  The  selection  of  members  for 
nomination  to  this  fraternity  rested  entirely 
with  Cooper,  the  ballots  used  being  made  of 
bread  and  of  cheese.  A  cheese  ballot  served  as 
does  the  more  commonplace  blackball  in  clubs 
which  have  no  ambition  to  seem  "  unusual." 
Former  politicians,  poets,  merchants  and  law- 
yers made  up  the  membership  here  and  on  at 
least  one  occasion  something  quite  interesting 
happened.  Dr.  Francis,  who  tells  the  story,1 
labels  it  "  curious  as  well  as  rare."  A  theatrical 
benefit,  it  seems,  had  been  announced  at  the 
Park  Theatre  with  "  Hamlet "  for  the  play.  But, 
through  some  odd  chance,  no  skull  was  avail- 
able for  the  graveyard  scene  and,  at  a  late 

1  In  his  Old  New  York. 


148  ROMANTIC    DAYS 

hour,  a  subordinate  of  the  theatre  hurried  to 
the  office  of  Dr.  Francis  for  a  skull.  "  I  was 
compelled,"  he  says,  "  to  loan  the  head  of  my 
old  friend,  George  Frederick  Cooke  [the  actor]. 
'  Alas,  poor  Yorick ! ' 

"  The  skull  was  returned  in  the  morning; 
but  on  the  ensuing  evening,  at  a  meeting  of 
the  Cooper  Club,  the  circumstance  becoming 
known  to  several  of  the  members,  and  a  general 
desire  being  expressed  to  investigate  phrenolog- 
ically  the  head  of  the  great  tragedian,  the  article 
was  again  released  from  its  privacy,  when  Daniel 
Webster,  Henry  Wheaton  and  many  others  who 
enriched  the  meeting  of  that  night,  applied 
the  principles  of  craniological  science  to  the 
interesting  specimen  before  them." 

Dr.  Francis  also  records  that  the  publishers 
of  New  York  early  demonstrated  their  belief 
in  the  commercial  value  of  social  gatherings. 
As  early  as  1802,  he  tells  us,  he  attended  a 
publishers'  party  at  the  old  City  Hotel  under 
the  auspices  of  the  venerable  Matthew  Carey. 
Thirty  years  later  he  was  one  of  a  large  assembly 
brought  together  by  a  Harper's  dinner.  Later 
still,  on  a  similar  occasion,  he  heard  Bryant 
eloquently  rejoice  in  the  fact  that  the  promise 
of  American  authorship,  given  by  the  appearance 
of  Cotton  Mather,  had  at  last  been  redeemed. 
None  the  less,  Francis  shrewdly  endorses,  "  as 
a  result  of  personal  observation  and  individual 


WILLIAM   CULLEN   BRYANT   IN    1825. 
After  a  portrait  by  S.  F,  B.  Morse. 


-      ; 
B     '1 


IN    THE    EARLY   REPUBLIC    149 

experience "  the  remark  of  the  playwright, 
George  Colman:  "Authorship,  as  a  profession, 
is  a  very  good  walking-stick,  but  very  bad 
crutches ! " 

A  famous  gathering-place  for  politicians  was 
Tammany  Hall,  built  in  1811  on  the  site  of 
what  is  now  the  Sun  building.  The  Journal 
of  William  Maclay  contains  a  puzzled  reference 
to  a  Tammany  celebration  of  1790  which  he 
characterizes  as  "  a  grotesque  scene."  "  It 
being  the  old  first  of  May,"  he  says,  "  the  Sons 
of  Tammany  had  a  grand  parade  through  the 
town  in  Indian  dresses.  Delivered  a  talk  at 
one  of  their  meeting-houses  and  went  away  to 
dinner.  There  seems  to  be  some  kind  of  scheme 
laid  of  erecting  some  kind  of  order  or  society 
under  this  denomination,  but  it  does  not  seem 
well  digested  as  yet.  The  expense  of  the  dresses 
must  have  been  considerable  and  the  money 
paid  out  on  clothing  might  have  dressed  a  num- 
ber of  their  ragged  beggars." 

From  this  allusion  to  "  their  ragged  beggars  " 
it  would  appear  that  one,  at  least,  of  the  original 
objects  of  this  society  —  which  dates  from  the 
Revolution  —  had  been  benevolence.  Chiefly, 
however,  the  organization  was  formed  for  the 
purpose  of  being  aggressively  American.  Tam- 
many, whom  they  decided  to  elect  as  their  pa- 
tron saint,  had  been  an  Indian  chief  of  the  Dele- 
ware  nation  who  lived  in  the  seventeenth  cen- 


150  ROMANTIC    DAYS 

tury  and  signed  the  treaty  with  Penn.  It 
was  decided  that  he  should  be  canonized  as  an 
offset  to  the  foreign  saints,  Andrew,  Patrick 
and  George,  each  of  whom  had  his  own  society 
and  his  devoted  followers.  For  a  time  all  the 
officers  of  St.  Tammany's  Society  were  native- 
born  Americans  and  they  never  wearied  of 
proclaiming  their  democracy  —  in  contra -dis- 
tinction to  the  Cincinnati,  whose  membership, 
because  hereditary,  was  held  to  be  aristocratic 
in  its  tendencies.  Some  years  later,  the  words, 
Columbian  Order,  were  grafted  upon  Tammany's 
original  name.  The  pernicious  association  of 
the  Society  with  ring  politics  came  later  still 
and  so  is  beyond  the  scope  of  this  book. 

Of  distinguished  writers,  who  are  immediately 
recognized  as  belonging  to  the  very  first  rank, 
New  York  had  astonishingly  few  at  this  period 
of  the  early  Republic.  There  was  Irving,  of 
course,  of  whom  considerable  has  already  been 
said;  and  there  were,  also,  Bryant  and  Cooper, 
with  Poe  just  coming  to  the  surface  at  the  time 
(in  the  early  thirties)  we  have  set  as  the  limit 
of  the  present  work.  The  other  men,  however, 
whom  James  Grant  Wilson  has  loyally  celebrated 
as  "  Knickerbocker  Authors "  l  are  hardly 
more  than  names  to  the  average  reader  of  today. 
Fitz-Greene  Halleck,2  James  Kirke  Paulding  and 

1  In  the  Memorial  History  of  The  City  of  New  York,  vol.  iv. 

2  Dickens  greatly  admired  Halleck's  "  Marco  Bozzaris." 


IN    THE    EARLY   REPUBLIC    151 

Joseph  Rodman  Drake  may  have  meant  much 
to  their  own  and  the  next  generation,  but  their 
work  is  not  read  today  and,  save  for  their  genial 
personalities,  they  would  not  be  even  mentioned 
here.  Cooper,  on  the  contrary,  will  always 
be  honored  as  the  author  of  The  Spy  (first 
published  in  New  York  in  1821)  whether  other 
of  his  books  continue  to  be  widely  read  or  not. 
Similarly  "  Thanatopsis  "  will  never  allow  Will- 
iam Cullen  Bryant  to  be  forgotten,  "  Home 
Sweet  Home "  will  force  us  occasionally  to 
recall  the  stormy  career  of  John  Howard  Payne 
—  and  that  other  Paine,  author  of  The  Age 
of  Reason  will  continue  to  be  remembered, 
also,  if  only  to  prove  how  impotent  persecution 
and  misconception  are  to  stifle  real  nobility 
of  thought  and  expression! 

Cooper  offers  a  delightful  example  of  the 
accidental  author,  so  to  say.  The  story  is 
told  that,  as  he  sat,  one  day,  reading  to  his 
wife  from  an  English  society  novel,  he  put  down 
the  book  with  the  remark,  "I  believe  I  could 
write  a  better  novel  myself."  'Write  one!" 
his  helpmeet  said.  And  so  he  went  to  work,  with 
the  result  that,  in  November,  1820,  Precaution 
made  its  appearance  in  New  York  —  adding  one 
more  to  the  wretched  school  of  imitative  English 
fiction  whose  tiresome  sameness  had  induced 
its  creation.  Yet  Cooper's  friends  saw  in  the 
book  promise  of  real  power  and  they  urged  him 


152  ROMANTIC    DAYS 

to  try  again,  offering  the  excellent  advice  that, 
this  time,  he  stay  on  this  side  of  the  Atlantic 
and  deal  with  the  men  and  manners  of  which 
he  had  first-hand  knowledge.  He  did  so,  and, 
in  1821,  appeared  the  first  truly  American 
novel,  founded  upon  the  adventures  of  a  real 
spy  employed  by  John  Jay  during  the  Revolu- 
tion. Yet  Cooper  did  not  then  know  that  he  had 
produced  a  masterpiece  and  was  as  much  sur- 
prised as  were  his  publishers  at  the  speedy  recog- 
nition his  book  attained.  Within  six  months  of 
the  day  of  issue  the  story  passed  through  three 
editions  in  America,  was  dramatized  and  acted 
with  success,  was  published  in  England,  was 
translated  into  French,  and  gained  for  its 
unknown  writer  l  the  title  of  "  a  distinguished 
American  novelist."  When  it  was  announced 
that  The  Spy  would  be  followed  by  The  Pi- 
oneers public  interest  in  this  new  writer's  work 
became  so  great  that  thirty-five  hundred  cop- 
ies of  his  picture  of  frontier  life  and  manners 
were  sold  during  the  forenoon  of  the  day  of 
publication!  What  is  more,  his  fame  continued 
to  increase  and  his  work  was  eagerly  bought  and 
read  up  to  the  time  of  his  death  in  1851. 

As  for  the  fame  of  Thomas  Paine,  who  died 
in  New  York,  in   1809  —  that  seems  to  grow 

1  The  novel  was  published  as  The  Spy:  A  Tale  of  Neutral  Ground, 
by  the  author  of  Precaution.  2  vols.  New  York:  Wiley  and  Halsted, 
1821. 


IN    THE   EARLY   REPUBLIC    153 

rather  than  to  decrease  with  the  years.  When 
Paine    came     to    America    from    England    in 
1774  his  Quaker   ancestry  and  the   letters  he 
bore  from  Franklin  led  him  to  settle  in  Phila- 
delphia, where,  as  editor  of  the  Pennsylvania 
Gazette,   he    was    immediately    able    to    render 
immense  service  to  the  cause  of  the  colonies. 
Edmund  Randolph,  a  devout  churchman,  wri- 
ting  long   after   the   author's   death,    ascribed 
American    independence    primarily    to    George 
III  and  next  to  Thomas  Paine.     For  besides 
column    upon    column    of    newspaper    support 
Paine  gave  considerable  money  to  the  cause. 
Common   Sense   sold   half  a   million  copies   at 
two  shillings  a  copy  and  all  this  income  was 
contributed   to  the  patriots   and   their   needs! 
Moreover,  Paine  himself  fought  at  the  front 
for   his    adopted    country,    headed    liberally    a 
subscription  which  tided  Washington  over  his 
most    trying    financial    crisis,    helped    Laurens 
effect  the  six  million  dollar  loan  from  the  French 
king  —  and  in  return  received  from  the  Republic 
in  its  prosperous  days  only  the  most  meagre 
and  grudging  of  recognitions.     From  1787  until 
1802  Paine  was  absent  from  this  country,  and 
it  was  England  and  France  which  then  gave 
him  blows  and  buffets.     But  during  this  time 
he    wrote   his   Rights   of   Man    and    The   Age 
of  Reason,  the  latter  a  work  which   has  been 
so    persistently    misquoted    that    its    author's 


154  ROMANTIC    DAYS 

name  is  anathema  today  in  most  respectable 
circles.  Yet  the  tone  of  this  book  is  noble  and 
reverent  throughout  and  some  of  its  doctrines 
are  now  recognized  as  not  inimical  to  religion. 

Ill  health,  persecution  and  an  ever-increasing 
poverty  conspired  to  send  Paine  to  a  humble 
little  lodging  in  Greenwich  to  pass  his  closing 
days,  and  there,  as  it  happens,  he  attracted  the 
attention  of  John  Randel,  Junior,  engineer 
to  the  Commissioners  who  prepared  the  present 
City  Plan.  "I  boarded  in  the  city,"  Mr. 
Randel  writes,  "  and  in  going  to  the  office  passed 
almost  daily  the  house  in  Herring  Street  (later 
Bleecker  Street)  where  Thomas  Paine  resided, 
and  frequently  in  fair  weather  saw  him  sitting 
at  the  south  window  of  the  first-story  room  of 
that  house.  The  sash  was  raised  and  a  small 
table  or  stand  placed  before  him,  with  an  open 
book  placed  upon  it  which  he  appeared  to  be 
reading.  He  had  his  spectacles  on,  his  left 
elbow  rested  upon  the  table  or  stand,  and  his 
chin  rested  between  the  thumb  and  fingers  of 
his  hand;  his  right  hand  lay  upon  his  book, 
and  a  decanter  containing  liquor  of  the  colour 
of  rum  or  brandy  was  standing  next  his  book 
or  beyond  it.  I  never  saw  Thomas  Paine  at 
any  other  place  or  in  any  other  position." 

During  Paine's  last  days  two  worthy  divines 
of  the  neighborhood  endeavored  to  bring  him 
to  a  realizing  sense  of  the  error  of  his  ways. 


IN    THE   EARLY   REPUBLIC    155 

They  were  not  successful  in  this  attempt  and 
the  aged  author  instructed  his  housekeeper 
not  to  let  them  in  if  they  should  call  again. 
So,  when  they  returned  to  the  attack  the 
good  woman  denied  them  admission,  saying 
to  them,  simply,  as  she  did  so,  "  If  God  does  not 
change  his  mind  I'm  sure  no  human  can."  And 
no  human  did.  Thomas  Paine  died  in  his 
unbelief  and  was  buried  in  the  grave  beyond 
New  Rochelle  now  marked  by  a  monument 
which  a  later  generation  erected  to  his  memory. 
The  spot  in  which  his  remains  rest  is,  however, 
unknown;  for  William  Cobbett  took  them  from 
New  Rochelle  to  England,  in  1818,  and  where 
they  were  finally  deposited  has  always  remained 
a  mystery. 


CHAPTER  III 

WASHINGTON 

GENERAL  WASHINGTON  always  mod- 
estly designated  as  "the  Federal  City"  the 
capital  on  the  Potomac  through  which 
his  name  was  to  be  memorialized.  He  was  most 
anxious,  however,  that  this  city  should  stand 
just  where  it  does  and  that  every  endeavor  should 
be  made  to  develop  it  into  a  centre  worthy  of 
a  great  and  growing  Republic.  His  letters  offer 
abundant  evidence  that,  as  early  as  1791,  he 
was  busying  himself  with  the  details  of  the  under- 
taking; and  soon  after  this  he  was  strenuously 
arguing  with  old  David  Burnes,  who  owned  and 
wished  to  keep  a  large  lot  of  land  in  a  valuable 
part  of  the  new  "  ten  mile  square,"  that  his 
country's  needs  should  take  precedence  of 
personal  convenience  in  the  matter  of  holding 
this  site.  Tradition  tells  us  that  Burnes  there- 
upon retorted:  "  Oh,  I  suppose  you  think  people 
here  are  going  to  take  every  grist  that  comes  from 
you  as  pure  grain ;  but  what  would  you  have  been 
if  you  had  not  married  the  Widow  Custis?  " 


IN    THE    EARLY   REPUBLIC    157 

Burnes's  reluctance  to  entertain  a  capital 
unawares  was  eventually  overcome,  however, 
and  Pierre  Charles  1'Enfant  was  entrusted  with 
the  task  of  making  and  executing  the  necessary 
plans.  Jefferson  contributed  largely  to  1'Enfant's 
information  concerning  beautiful  cities.  "  In 
compliance  with  your  request,"  wrote  the  Vir- 
ginian (in  April,  1791),  "I  have  examined  my 
papers  and  found  the  plans  of  Frankfort-on- 
the-Mayne,  Carlsruhe,  Paris,  Amsterdam,  Stras- 
burg,  Orleans,  Bordeaux,  Lyons,  Montpelier, 
Marseilles,  Turin,  and  Milan,  which  I  send  in 
a  roll  by  the  post.  They  are  on  large  and  ac- 
curate scale,  having  been  procured  by  me  while 
in  those  respective  cities  myself.  As  they  are 
connected  with  notes  I  made  in  my  travels,  and 
often  necessary  to  explain  them  to  myself,  I  will 
beg  your  care  of  them  and  to  return  them  when 
they  are  no.  longer  useful  to  you,  leaving  you 
absolutely  free  to  keep  them  as  long  as  useful. 
I  am  happy  that  the  President  has  left  the  plan- 
ning of  the  town  in  such  good  hands,  and  I 
have  no  doubt  it  will  be  done  to  general  satis- 
faction." 

The  way  in  which  a  capital  site  was  awarded 
to  a  Southern  State  is  an  interesting  piece  of 
political  history.  New  York  did  not  lightly 
relinquish  the  honor  that  had  been  accorded 
her,  and  New  Jersey,  Maryland  and  Virginia, 
as  well  as  Pennsylvania,  coveted  the  distinction. 


158  ROMANTIC    DAYS 

In  all,  no  less  than  twenty-four  different  sites 
were  proposed!  Finally  the  House  passed  a 
bill  selecting  Pennsylvania  but  the  Southern 
members,  led  by  Madison,  bitterly  resented 
this  and  the  measure  was  defeated  in  the  Senate. 
The  selection  of  the  Potomac  site  was  the  result 
of  a  compromise  reached  only  after  a  sectional 
struggle  so  fierce  as  to  threaten  the  very  life 
of  the  new  nation. 

Gladstone  once  remarked  that  the  United 
States  furnished  the  first  instance  in  history 
of  the  establishment  of  a  national  capital  by 
legislative  enactment.  This  enactment  was, 
however,  the  outgrowth  of  a  political  trade, 
so  to  say,  for  which  Alexander  Hamilton  was 
bitterly  blamed,  at  the  time,  by  his  fellow  New 
Yorkers.  The  government  was  trying  to  fund 
its  debts  and  one  of  the  questions  was  whether 
it  should  also  assume  the  debts  incurred  by 
the  several  States  while  carrying  on  the  war. 
The  Northern  States  were  in  favor  of  so  doing, 
because  they  had  furnished  the  greater  portion 
of  men  and  means;  but  those  of  the  South  ob- 
jected as  it  would  increase  their  proportion. 
Hamilton  found  that  some  Southern  votes 
would  be  necessary  to  carry  the  measure;  and 
in  connection  with  Jefferson,  who  wished  to 
have  the  capital  located  in  Virginia,  or  as  near 
as  possible,  it  was  arranged  that  the  latter  should 
induce  the  Virginia  delegation  to  vote  for  the 


ALEXANDER   HAMILTON. 

From  the  portrait  by  Trumbull  in  the  possession  of  the  Yale  University  School  of  Fine 

Arts. 


THOMAS   JEFFERSON. 


IN    THE   EARLY   REPUBLIC    159 

general  assumption  of  the  indebtedness,  while 
Hamilton  was  to  induce  the  New  York  delega- 
tion to  give  up  their  preference  for  the  location 
of  the  capital  in  their  chief  city.  This  plan 
was  carried  out,  but  to  placate  Philadelphia 
it  was  decreed  that  the  capital  should  remain 
there  ten  years.  Then  the  nation's  household 
was  to  be  removed  to  the  banks  of  the  Potomac. 
L'Enfant  had  the  brains,  and  the  knowledge 
which  should  have  made  him  a  most  successful 
leader  in  this  important  piece  of  town-plan- 
ning. 1  But  he,  also,  had  so  much  * '  temperament ' ' 
that  no  one  could  work  with  him.  His  limita- 
tions were  admirably  summed  up  by  Washing- 
ton when  he  said,  "  Major  1'Enfant  is  as  well 
qualified  for  the  work  as  any  man  living,  but 
the  knowledge  of  this  fact  magnifies  his  self- 
esteem."  And  1'Enf ant's  self-esteem  could  not 
bear  magnifying.  So  obstructive  and  un-co- 
operative  did  the  gifted  architect  soon  become 
that  he  had  to  be  brusquely  retired  and  his 
post,  as  head  of  the  enterprise,  given  to  Andrew 
Ellicott,  a  self-educated  young  Pennsylvania 
Quaker,  who  had  been  his  assistant.  The  story 
of  the  building  of  Washington  is  full,  indeed,  of 
jealousies  and  bickerings  on  the  part  of  the 
various  architects  who  had  a  share  in  the  en- 
terprise. On  this  account,  as  well  as  because 

1  His  dream  of  a  fair  city  is  now,  after  a  hundred  years,  to  be 
logically  worked  out! 


160  ROMANTIC    DAYS 

of  the  many  physical  difficulties  to  be  overcome, 
work  progressed  slowly.  When  Washington 
looked  last  upon  the  new  city,  shortly  before 
his  death  in  1799,  it  was  still  only  a  straggling 
settlement  in  the  woods,  almost  wholly  devoid 
of  streets,  with  thirty  or  forty  residences,  — 
these  for  the  most  part  small  and  uncomfortable, 
—  and  an  unfinished  Capitol  and  President's 
House.  A  few  months  after  the  President's 
death  John  Cotton  Smith,  than  a  member  of 
Congress  from  Connecticut,  wrote  thus  of 
the  place: 

"  Our  approach  to  the  city  was  accompanied 
with  sensations  not  easily  described.  One  wing 
of  the  Capitol  only  had  been  erected,  which 
with  the  President's  House,  a  mile  distant 
from  it,  both  constructed  with  white  sandstone, 
were  shining  objects  in  dismal  contrast  with 
the  scene  around  them.  Instead  of  recognizing 
the  avenues  and  streets  portrayed  on  the  plan 
of  the  city,  not  one  was  visible,  unless  we  ex- 
cept a  road  with  two  buildings  on  each  side  of  it 
called  New  Jersey  Avenue.  The  Pennsylvania, 
leading,  as  is  laid  down  on  paper,  from  the  Capi- 
tol to  the  Presidential  mansion,  was  then  nearly 
the  whole  distance  a  deep  morass  covered  with 
alder-bushes,  which  were  cut  through  the  in- 
tended avenue  during  the  ensuing  winter.  Be- 
tween the  President's  House  and  Georgetown 
a  block  of  houses  had  been  erected,  which  bore 


IN    THE    EARLY   REPUBLIC    161 

the  name  of  the  Six  Buildings.  There  were 
also  two  other  blocks  consisting  of  two  or  three 
dwelling-houses,  in  different  directions,  and 
now  and  then  an  isolated  wooden  habitation; 
the  intervening  spaces  and,  indeed,  the  surface 
of  the  city  generally,  being  covered  with  scrub - 
oak  bushes  on  the  higher  grounds,  and  on  the 
marshy  soil  either  trees  or  some  sort  of  shrubbery. 
Nor  was  the  desolate  aspect  of  the  place  aug- 
mented by  the  number  of  unfinished  edifices 
which  had  been  abandoned." 

The  removal  of  the  department  archives 
from  Philadelphia  to  Washington  was  effected 
in  the  spring  of  1800  and  the  following  month 
President  Adams  paid  a  visit  of  inspection  to 
the  new  capital  on  his  way  to  Quincy  for  the 
summer. 

It  but  remained  for  Mrs.  Adams  to  inspect 
the  callow  city.  We  are  very  glad  that  she  was 
not  content  merely  to  pour  out  in  the  bosom 
of  her  family  her  deep  disappointment  at  what 
she  found;  for  American  literature  would  be 
considerably  poorer  without  the  following  letter, 
sent  to  her  daughter,  on  November  21,  1800: 

"  I  arrived  here  on  Sunday  last  and  without 
meeting  any  accident  worth  noticing,  except 
losing  ourselves  when  we  left  Baltimore  and 
going  eight  or  nine  miles  on  the  Frederick  road, 
by  which  means  we  were  obliged  to  go  the  other 
night  through  woods,  where  we  wandered 


162  ROMANTIC    DAYS 

two  hours  without  finding  a  guide  or  the  path. 
.  .  .  Woods  are  all  you  see  until  you  reach  the 
tity,  which  is  only  so  in  name.  .  .  .  There  are 
buildings  enough  if  they  were  compact  and 
finished,  to  accommodate  Congress  and  those 
attached  to  it;  but  as  they  are,  and  scattered 
as  they  are,  I  see  no  great  comfort  for  them. 
The  river,  which  runs  up  to  Alexandria,  is  in 
full  view  of  my  window,  and  I  see  the  vessels 
as  they  pass  and  repass.  The  house  is  on  a 
grand  and  superb  scale,  requiring  about  thirty 
servants  to  attend  and  keep  the  apartments 
in  proper  order,  and  perform  the  ordinary 
business  of  the  house  and  stables;  an  estab- 
lishment very  well  proportioned  to  the  Presi- 
dent's salary.  The  lighting  the  apartments 
from  kitchen  to  parlours  and  chambers  is  a  tax 
indeed;  and  the  fires  we  are  obliged  to  keep  to 
secure  us  from  daily  agues  is  another  very  cheer- 
ing comfort.  To  assist  us  in  this  great  castle 
and  render  less  attendance  necessary  bells  are 
wholly  wanting,  not  one  single  one  being  hung 
through  the  whole  house  and  promises  are  all 
you  can  obtain.  This  is  so  great  an  inconve- 
nience that  I  know  not  what  to  do  or  how  to  do 
...  if  they  will  put  me  up  some  bells  and  let 
me  have  wood  enough  to  keep  fires  I  design  to 
be  pleased.  I  could  content  myself  almost 
anywhere  three  months.  .  .  .  There  is  not  a 
single  apartment  finished.  .  .  .  We  have  not 


IN    THE   EARLY   REPUBLIC    163 

the  least  fence,  yard  or  other  convenience  with- 
out, and  the  great  unfinished  audience-room  I 
make  a  drying-room  of,  to  hang  up  the  clothes 
in.  The  principal  stairs  are  not  up  and  will 
not  be  this  winter.  Six  chambers  are  made 
comfortable;  two  are  occupied  by  the  president 
and  Mr.  Shaw;  two  lower  rooms,  one  for  a 
common  parlour,  and  one  for  a  levee-room. 
Upstairs  there  is  the  oval  room  which  is  de- 
signed for  the  drawingroom,  and  has  the  crim- 
son furniture  in  it.  It  is  a  very  handsome  room 
now  but  when  completed  it  will  be  beautiful. 
If  the  twelve  years,  in  which  this  place  has  been 
considered  as  the  future  seat  of  government, 
had  been  improved,  as  they  would  have  been 
in  New  England,  very  many  of  the  present 
inconveniences  would  have  been  removed.  But 
it  is  a  beautiful  spot,  capable  of  every  improve- 
ment." 

Capable  of  every  improvement  Washington 
long  remained.  Gouverneur  Morris  wittily 
declared  it  "  the  best  city  in  the  world  for  a 
future  residence."  And  Oliver  Wolcott  wrote 
his  wife,  "  I  have  made  every  exertion  to  secure 
good  lodgings  near  the  office,  but  shall  be  com- 
pelled to  take  them  at  the  distance  of  more  than 
half  a  mile.  There  are,  in  fact,  but  few  houses 
at  any  one  place,  and  most  of  them  small, 
miserable  huts  which  present  an  awful  contrast 
to  the  public  buildings.  The  people  are  poor, 


164  ROMANTIC   DAYS 

and  as  far  as  I  can  judge,  they  live  like  fishes  — 
by  eating  each  other" 

In  respect  to  its  business  quarters  Congress 
was  fairly  well  off,  to  be  sure,  for  the  completed 
wing  of  the  Capitol  afforded  sufficient  room  for 
the  sessions  of  both  branches  and  $9,000  had 
been  appropriated  for  furnishing  it.  Consider- 
ably less  fortunate,  as  we  have  seen,  were  the 
members  in  the  matter  of  personal  accommoda- 
tion. If  they  lived  in  Georgetown,  where  there 
was  agreeable  society,  they  had  to  travel  to  and 
fro  over  very  bad  roads  and,  if  they  took  lodgings 
near  the  Capitol,  they  were  pretty  certain  to 
be  uncomfortably  crowded  and  pitifully  cramped 
in  their  social  pleasures.  A  letter  from  Gallatin 
to  his  wife  shows  us  how  very  real  were  the  hard- 
ships which  these  early  legislators  had  to  endure : 
"  Our  location,"  he  wrote  (January  15,  1801), 
"  is  far  from  being  pleasant  or  even  convenient. 
Around  the  Capitol  are  seven  or  eight  boarding 
houses,  one  tailor,  one  shoemaker,  one  printer, 
a  washing-woman,  a  grocery  shop,  a  pamphlet 
and  stationery  shop,  a  small  dry  goods  shop, 
and  an  oyster  house.  This  makes  the  whole 
of  the  Federal  City  as  connected  with  the  Cap- 
itol. At  the  distance  of  three  fourths  of  a  mile, 
on  or  near  the  Eastern  Branch,  lie  scattered  the 
habitations  of  Mr.  Law,  of  Mr.  Carroll,  the 
principal  proprietors  of  the  ground,  half  a 
dozen  houses,  a  very  large  but  perfectly  empty 


IN    THE   EARLY   REPUBLIC    165 

warehouse,  and  a  wharf  graced  by  not  a  single 
vessel.  And  this  makes  the  whole  intended 
commercial  part  of  the  city,  unless  we  include 
in  it  what  is  called  the  Twenty  Buildings, 
being  so  many  unfinished  houses.  ...  I  am 
at  Conrad  and  Munn's,  where  I  share  the  room 
of  Mr.  Varnum  and  pay  at  the  rate,  I  think, 
including  attendance,  wood,  candles  and  liquors, 
of  15  dollars  per  week.  At  table,  I  believe,  we 
are  from  twenty -four  to  thirty,  and,  was  it 
not  for  the  presence  of  Mrs.  Bailey  and  Mrs. 
Brown,  would  look  like  a  refectory  of  monks." 

The  Mr.  Law  referred  to  in  this  letter  (and 
of  whom  Wolcott,  writing  to  his  wife,  speaks 
as  one  who  "  lives  in  great  splendor  ")  had  not 
long  before  married  Mrs.  Washington's  grand- 
daughter, Anne  Custis.  The  alliance  was  to 
prove  a  most  unhappy  one,  however,  for  the 
girl  was  high-spirited  and  only  nineteen,  and 
the  groom,  an  Englishman  nearly  twice  her 
age,  developed,  as  time  went  on,  several  very 
trying  eccentricities.  One  of  these  was  to 
carry  in  his  hand  a  piece  of  dough  which  he 
constantly  manipulated,  the  loss  of  which 
would  cause  him  to  lose  the  thread  of  his  story. 
Quite  frequently  he  forgot  his  own  name,  and 
once,  when  asking  for  letters  at  the  post-office, 
was  unable  to  say  to  whom  the  letters  would 
come  addressed  until  a  friend,  saluting  him  as 
Mr.  Law,  gave  him  the  necessary  cue.  Yet 


166  '  ROMANTIC    DAYS 

he  had  been  thought  a  great  match  for  Miss 
Custis  inasmuch  as  he  was  the  brother  of  an 
English  peer  and  of  the  Bishop  of  Wells.  Law's 
early  life  had  been  passed  in  India  with  Lord 
Cornwallis;  when  he  died  in  Washington  at 
the  age  of  seventy-seven  he  was  still  hoping 
and  planning  for  the  future  greatness  of  the 
city  in  which  he  had  rashly  invested  his 
all. 

Scarcely  did  Abigail  Adams  get  fairly  settled 
in  the  White  House  whose  discomforts  she  had 
so  vividly  described  than  it  became  clear  that 
not  for  long  was  she  to  remain  mistress  there. 
To  her  son  she  writes : 

"  WASHINGTON,  November  13,  1800. 
"  Well,  my  dear  son,  South  Carolina  has 
behaved  as  your  father  always  said  she  would. 
The  consequence  to  us,  personally,  is  that  we 
retire  from  public  life.  For  myself  and  family 
I  have  few  regrets.  At  my  age  and  with  my 
bodily  infirmities  I  shall  be  happier  at  Quincy. 
Neither  my  habits,  nor  my  education  or  incli- 
nations, have  led  me  to  an  expensive  style  of 
living  so  that  on  that  score  I  have  little  to 
mourn  for.  If  I  did  not  rise  with  dignity  I 
can  at  least  fall  with  ease,  which  is  the  more 
difficult  task.  .  .  .  My  own  intention  is  to 
return  to  Quincy  as  soon  as  I  conveniently  can; 
I  presume  in  the  month  of  January." 


IN    THE    EARLY   REPUBLIC    167 

John  Adams  did  not  take  so  blithely  retire- 
ment from  the  political  field.  "  If  I  were  to  go 
over  my  life  again,"  we  find  him  saying,  "  I 
would  be  a  shoemaker  rather  than  an  American 
statesman."  After  which  illuminating  glimpse 
of  the  man's  deep  wound  at  his  failure  to  be 
reflected  we  are  glad  to  know  that  Mistress 
Abigail  never  once  faltered  during  this  trying 
period  of  transition.  Her  husband  deeply  ap- 
preciated her  "  gameness."  Soon  after  their 
return  home  he  wrote  to  one  of  their  children, 
*  Your  mother  had  a  fine  night's  sleep  which 
has  made  her  as  gay  as  a  girl."  And  we  find 
her,  on  May  3,  1801,  buoyantly  telling  her  son- 
in-law,  "  I  have  commenced  my  operations  of 
dairy-woman  and  Mrs.  Smith  might  see  me, 
at  five  o'clock  in  the  morning,  skimming  my 
milk!  "  Her  consort,  at  this  same  dewy  hour, 
was  busy  with  his  haymakers  in  the  fields.  It 
had  not  then  become  a  problem  what  to  do  with 
our  ex-presidents. 

John  Adams  had  been  born  to  the  simple 
life  and  he  returned  to  it,  after  he  had  recovered 
from  the  first  blow  to  his  self-esteem,  easily 
and  naturally.  Yet,  while  in  public  service, 
he  had  always  defended  stateliness  of  demeanor. 
There  is  amusing  evidence  that  the  leveling 
tendency  chargeable  to  the  French  Revolution, 
and  ardently  advocated  by  Jefferson,  piqued 
and  annoyed  him  extremely.  In  a  letter  which 


168  ROMANTIC    DAYS 

he  wrote  to  Dr.  Rush  in  1811  he  said:  "In 
point  of  Republicanism  all  the  difference  I 
ever  knew  or  could  discover  between  you  and 
me,  or  between  Jefferson  and  me,  consisted 
(1)  In  the  difference  between  speeches  and 
messages,  I  was  a  monarchist  because  I  thought 
a  speech  more  manly,  more  respectful  to  Congress 
and  the  nation.  Jefferson  and  Rush  preferred 
messages.  (2)  I  held  levees  once  a  week  that 
all  my  time  might  not  be  wasted  by  idle  visits, 
Jefferson's  whole  eight  years  was  a  levee.  (3) 
I  dined  a  large  company  once  a  week,  Jefferson 
dined  a  dozen  every  day.  (4)  Jefferson  and 
Rush  were  for  liberty  and  straight  hair.  I 
thought  curled  hair  was  as  Republican  as 
straight." 

It  is,  of  course,  a  fact  that  Jefferson  made  a 
cult  of  simplicity.  Vulgarity,  his  political  op- 
ponents called  it,  when  he  walked  from  his 
lodgings  to  the  Capitol  to  be  inaugurated  and, 
having  been  sworn  into  office  by  Chief  Justice 
Marshall,  returned  to  his  boarding-place,  as 
he  had  come  —  on  foot.  Certainly  his  was  not 
Simon-pure  simplicity.  Otherwise  there  would 
have  been  no  need  of  eleven  servants  (slaves) 
from  his  plantation,  besides  a  French  cook  and 
steward  and  an  Irish  coachman  to  conduct  the 
affairs  of  his  bachelor  establishment.  For  the 
new  President  being  a  widower  whose  married 
daughters  preferred  their  own  homes  for  the 


IN    THE   EARLY   REPUBLIC    169 

most  part  to  "  queening  it  "  in  Washington, 
the  White  House  was  now  without  a  mis- 
tress. 

Of  none  of  the  early  Presidents  is  there  so 
engaging  a  romance  to  be  told  as  of  Jefferson. 
The  lady  he  had  married,  nearly  thirty  years 
before  this  time,  was  Mrs.  Martha  Skelton,  a 
beautiful  and  accomplished  young  widow  with 
soft  hazel  eyes  and  luxuriant  auburn  hair. 
She  walked,  rode  and  danced  with  inimitable 
grace  and  spirit  and  was  renowned  throughout 
the  Old  Dominion  as  a  player  upon  the  harpsi- 
cord.  Of  course,  such  a  woman,  who  had  wealth 
in  addition  to  personal  charms,  was  much  sought 
after  by  the  eligible  youth  of  her  county.  Two 
of  these  once  chanced  to  meet  at  the  door  of  her 
house  and  were  shown  into  a  room  adjoining 
one  where  she  was  singing  and  playing  the  harp- 
sichord to  the  accompaniment  of  Mr.  Jefferson's 
violin  and  voice.  The  suitors  listened  for  a 
stanza  or  two;  then  they  crept  quietly  away 
convinced  that  they  had  absolutely  no  chance 
against  the  musical  caller  within.  Jefferson 
had  ten  happy  years  of  married  life  with  this 
lovely  woman  and  he  never  sought  a  successor 
for  her.  During  part  of  the  time  that  he  was  in 
Washington  as  President  his  daughter,  who  had 
married  Thomas  Mann  Randolph,  himself  a 
member  of  Congress,  made  the  White  House  her 
home  but,  for  the  most,  he  had  to  borrow,  on 


170  ROMANTIC    DAYS 

state  occasions,  the  presence  of  Mrs.  Madison  l 
as  hostess. 

A  unique  feature  of  the  campaign  preceding 
Jefferson's  election  was  the  extraordinary  dem- 
onstration of  belief  in  him  made  by  Elder 
Leland  and  his  followers,  of  Cheshire  in  New 
England.  By  his  opponents  Jefferson  had  been 
declared  a  foreigner  in  his  tastes,  un-American, 
unpatriotic  and  a  French  infidel.2  Certain  of 
his  opponents  went  so  far  as  to  say  that,  if 
he  were  elected,  Sunday  would  no  longer  be 
observed  and  churches  throughout  the  country 

1  From  the  "  collection  of  period  costumes  "  being  arranged  at 
the  old  National  Museum,  Washington,  as  this  book  goes  to  press, 
it  appears  that,  about  this  time,  Mrs.   Madison  introduced  into 
Republican  circles  the  empire  gown  made  famous  in  Paris  by  the 
lovely  Recamier  and  the  women  of  Napoleon's  court.    The  waist- 
line was  entirely  obscured  by  this  fashion  and  the  bodice  shortened, 
in  some  cases,  to  an  inch.    A  portrait  of  Mrs.  Madison,  showing 
her  in  such  a  toilet  is  extant.     The  figures  in  the  "  collection  " 
during  the  Monroe  period  show,  on  the  contrary,  that  black  dresses, 
especially  of  velvet  and  satin,  have  now  come  into  vogue  and  that 
bodices  gradually  lengthened   until  the  waist-line  dropped  to  its 
natural  level.    Skirts  were  now  very  full  and  very  much  flounced. 
With  the  advent  of  the  Quincy  Adamses  came  the  reign  of  the 
grotesque  leg-o'-mutton  sleeve,  short  full  skirt  and  gigantic  poke 
bonnet.     This  lasted   through  Jackson's  administration  as  well. 
The  shoulders  of  women's  gowns  were  at  this  time  so  much  "  ex- 
tended," that  ladies  had  to  edge  sidewise  through  doors.    And  when 
Jackson  was  running  for  president  the  wives  and  sisters  of  his 
partisans  wore   calico   printed   with  great  medallions   bearing  his 
rugged  features! 

2  In  refutation  of    these  absurd  slanders  Mrs.  Samuel  Harrison 
Smith  was  glad  to  write  that  during  Mr.  Jefferson's  first  winter 
in  Washington  he  regularly  worshipped  at  the  rude  church  which 
the  Episcopalians  of  the  place  had  fitted  up  in  a  building  formerly 
used  as  a  tobacco-house. 


IN   THE    EARLY   REPUBLIC    171 

would   be   closed!     Elder  Leland   of   Cheshire 
believed  none  of  these  things  and,  having  pre- 
viously  preached   many   sturdy   electioneering 
sermons  in  Jefferson's  behalf,  proposed  to  his 
people,    as   soon    as   the   election   was   secure, 
that  they  should  celebrate  the  victory  by  making 
for  the  new  President  the  biggest  cheese  the 
world  had  ever  seen.    "  Every  man  and  woman 
who   owned   a   cow,"   was   on   a   certain   day, 
writes  Dr.  Manasseh  Cutler,  then  a  member  of 
Congress,  "  to  give  for  this  cheese  all  the  milk 
yielded  that  day  —  only  no  Federal  cow  must 
contribute   a   drop.     A  huge   cider  press   was 
fitted  up  to  make  it  in,  and  on  the  appointed 
day  the  whole    county  turned    out  with   pails 
and  tubs  of  curd,  the  girls  and  women  in  their 
best  gowns  and  ribbons,  and  the  men  in  their 
Sunday    coats    and    clean    shirt-collars.      The 
cheese  was  put  to  press  with  prayer  and  hymn 
singing  and  great  solemnity.    When  it  was  well 
dried  it  weighed  sixteen  hundred  pounds.     It 
was  placed  on  a  sleigh  and  elder  Leland  drove 
with  it  all  the  way  to  Washington.     It  was  a 
journey  of  three  weeks.     All  the  country  had 
heard  of  the  big  cheese  and  came  out  to  look 
at  it  as  the  elder  drove  along."    Six  horses  were 
used  to  draw  this  unique  offering  and  on  its 
side  it  bore  a  label  inscribed :  "  The  greatest 
cheese   in   America   for   the   greatest   man   in 
America ! " 


172  ROMANTIC    DAYS 

The  elder  and  his  offering  were  most  cordially 
received  at  Washington.  Jefferson  was  himself 
a  farmer  and  so  interested  in  cheeses.  He  was, 
also,  interested  to  prove  himself  thoroughly 
democratic  and  a  true  Apostle  of  Simplicity. 
The  chief  article  of  furniture  in  his  own  particu- 
lar room  at  the  White  House  was  a  long  table 
with  a  set  of  carpenter's  tools  tucked  away  in 
the  drawers  of  one  side,  and  a  set  of  gardener's 
tools  similarly  disposed  at  its  other  end.  There 
was  no  affectation  in  Jefferson's  love  of  the  out- 
of-doors  and  in  his  deep  affection  for  trees. 
Once  at  a  dinner  party  he  exclaimed  abruptly, 
"  How  I  wished  that  I  possessed  the  powers  of 
a  despot!"  then  explaining,  in  answer  to  the 
astonished  look  called  forth  by  a  declaration 
so  opposed  to  his  disposition  and  principles, 
"  I  wish  I  was  a  despot  that  I  might  save  the 
noble  beautiful  trees  that  are  daily  falling  sac- 
rifices to  the  cupidity  of  their  owners,  or  the 
necessity  of  the  poor.  The  unnecessary  felling 
of  a  tree  —  perhaps  the  growth  of  centuries  — 
seems  to  me  a  crime  little  short  of  murder;  it 
pains  me  to  an  unspeakable  degree." 

In  the  window  recesses  of  the  room  used  as  an 
office  by  this  President  who  so  loved  Nature 
were  flowers  and  plants  to  which  he  attended 
personally.  "  And  among  his  roses  and  gera- 
niums," Mrs.  Smith  tells  us,  "  was  suspended 
the  cage  of  his  favourite  mocking-bird,  which 


IN   THE   EARLY   REPUBLIC    173 

he  cherished  with  peculiar  fondness,  not  only 
for  its  melodious  powers,  but  for  its  uncommon 
intelligence  and  affectionate  disposition,  of 
which  qualities  he  gave  surpassing  instances. 
It  was  the  constant  companion  of  his  solitary 
and  studious  hours.  Whenever  he  was  alone 
he  opened  the  cage  and  let  the  bird  fly  about 
the  room.  After  flitting  for  a  while  from  one 
object  to  another,  it  would  alight  on  his  table 
and  regale  him  with  its  sweetest  notes,  or  perch 
on  his  shoulder  and  take  its  food  from  his  lips. 
Often,  when  he  retired  to  his  chamber,  it  would 
hop  up  the  stairs  after  him,  and  while  he  took 
his  siesta,  would  sit  on  his  couch  and  pour 
forth  its  melodious  strains.  How  he  loved  this 
bird!  How  he  loved  his  flowers!  He  could  not 
live  without  something  to  love  and,  in  the 
absence  of  his  darling  grandchildren,  his  bird 
and  his  flowers  became  objects  of  tender 


care." 


Apart  from  this  one  room  the  White  House 
of  Jefferson's  day  appears  to  have  been  a  bare 
and  unhomelike  place.  It  was  scantily  furnished 
with  articles  brought  from  Philadelphia  and 
which  had  been  used  by  General  Washington. 
From  respect  to  their  former  possessor  Jefferson 
retained  these,  worn  and  shabby  though  they 
were.  In  the  drawing-room  was  the  same  crim- 
son damask  furniture  that  had  been  used  in 
Philadelphia  and  only  the  most  meagre  and 


174  ROMANTIC    DAYS 

simple  additional  articles  had  been  provided 
by  the  government  for  the  more  spacious  man- 
sion. The  large  East  Room  was  still  unfinished. 
But  this  mattered  little  to  Jefferson.  He  had 
no  mind  to  "  entertain  "  largely.  One  of  the 
first  things  he  did  after  coming  to  the  White 
House  was  to  abolish  the  levees  which  Washing- 
ton and  Adams  had  punctiliously  maintained, 
limiting  to  January  first  and  the  Fourth  of 
July  public  receptions  at  the  Executive  Mansion. 
At  other  times  persons  were  privileged  to  call 
as  they  pleased.  Sometimes  they  were  greatly 
disturbed  by  what  they  encountered.  It  is 
said  that  a  foreign  functionary  who  went  one 
morning  to  pay  the  President  a  visit  of  ceremony 
found  that  gentleman  just  drawing  on  his 
boots  and  prepared  with  a  shoe-brush  to  give 
them  a  polishing  touch.  Of  course  the  visitor 
was  shocked.  So  shocked  that  the  story  seems 
to  me  apocryphal.  A  Virginian  brought  up  to 
be  waited  upon  by  slaves  was  not  one  to  be 
brushing  his  own  shoes;  but  of  course  those  who 
resented  the  perfectly  tenable  social  rules  Jef- 
ferson had  promulgated  would  draw  upon  their 
imaginations  for  stories  which  should  make 
the  Democratic  President  ridiculous. 

The  basic  idea  of  Jefferson's  social  rules  was 
that  "  when  brought  together  in  society  all 
are  perfectly  equal,  whether  foreign  or  domestic, 
titled  or  untitled,  in  or  out  of  office."  In  ac- 


cordance  with  this  idea  Mr.  Jefferson,  at  one 
of  his  rare  state  dinners,  committed  the  "  un- 
pardonable sin  "  of  taking  in  the  lady  who  stood 
next  to  him  —  Mrs.  Madison,  —  and  requesting 
his  guests  to  do  the  same.  Mr.  Merry,  the  newly 
appointed  British  minister,  thus  found  himself 
obliged  to  offer  his  arm  to  his  own  wife!  And 
he  —  more  likely  she  —  never  forgave  Jefferson 
for  the  slight  this  choice  of  Mrs.  Madison  had 
put  upon  the  English  lady.  Sir  Augustus  Foster 
loyally  upheld  his  chief  and  his  chief's  lady  in 
their  resentment,  deprecatingly  comparing  the 
present  lack  of  "  etiquette  "  at  the  Executive 
Mansion  with  the  "  good  old  days."  "  Mr. 
Jefferson,"  he  argued  hotly,  "  knew  only  too 
well  what  he  was  about  —  he  had  lived  in  too 
good  society  at  Paris,  where  he  was  employed 
as  Minister  from  the  United  States  previously 
to  the  French  Revolution.  .  .  not  to  set  a 
value  on  the  decencies  and  proprieties  of  life. 
But  he  was  playing  a  game  for  retaining  the 
highest  office  in  a  State  where  manners  are 
not  a  prevailing  feature  in  the  great  mass  of 
society." 

Perhaps  Jefferson  was  "  playing  a  game." 
At  any  rate  he  was  persistent  in  adhering  to  his 
stand,  once  taken.  When  some  of  the  fashionable 
ladies,  who  were  affronted  that  he  had  abolished 
levees,  one  day  swarmed  down  upon  his  home 
by  a  concerted  arrangement,  he  went  in  among 


176  ROMANTIC    DAYS 

them,  dusty  as  he  was  from  his  ride,  and  while 
apologizing  for  his  spurs  and  disarranged  cos- 
tume, bade  them  welcome  with  such  studied 
charm  that  they  could  not  miss  the  conviction 
that  the  joke  was  on  them  instead  of  on  the 
President.  Dr.  Manasseh  Cutler  on  the  other 
hand  records  so  many  dinners  at  "his  Demo- 
cratic Majesty's  "  that  we  may  well  believe 
the  story  that  Jefferson  made  himself  poor  by 
his  liberality  while  at  the  White  House.  Lemaire, 
who  was  the  purveyor  for  the  household,  told 
Edmund  Bacon,  the  steward  from  Jefferson's 
Virginia  estate,  Monticello,  that  he  frequently 
spent  fifty  dollars  upon  one  day's  marketing. 
Which  one  may  easily  credit  after  reading  that 
the  bill  of  fare  —  besides  having  on  it  fried  eggs 
and  fried  beef  —  often  included,  as  on  one 
occasion  when  Dr.  Cutler  was  there,  turkeys, 
ducks,  "  the  new  foreign  dish  macaroni,"  ices, 
and  various  fancy -pudding  dishes,  among  them 
"  a  new  kind  of  pudding,  very  porous  and  light, 
inside  white  as  milk  of  curd,  covered  with  cream 
sauce." 

The  lady  who  did  the  honors  at  Jefferson's 
dinners  whenever  neither  of  the  President's 
daughters  was  available  and  it  was  necessary 
that  some  woman  act  as  hostess,  was  Mrs. 
James  Madison,  wife  of  the  Secretary  of  State. 
Thus  began  that  extraordinary  career  of  social 
ascendency  at  Washington  which,  with  only 


MRS.    MARTHA   JEFFERSON   RANDOLPH. 
Fro-n  the  portrait  by  Stuart  in  the  possession  of  Mrs.  Algernon  Coolidge  of  Boston. 


y 


DOLLY   MADISON. 


From  a  miniature  by  James  Peale  in  the  possession  of  her  great-niece,  Miss  Lucia  B. 
Cutts  of  Boston. 


IN    THE    EARLY   REPUBLIC    177 

a  few  interruptions,  lasted  for  over  forty  years! 
Mrs.  Madison  still  retained  at  this  time  much 
of  that  exquisite  beauty  which  was  embalmed 
by  James  Peale  in  the  charming  miniature  made 
just  about  the  time  of  her  marriage  to  Madison 
and  herewith  reproduced.  It  is  pleasant  to  see 
that,  when  sitting  to  Peale,  Mistress  Dolly 
wore  her  Quaker  cap.  From  her  later  life  it  is 
hard  to  recall  that  she  was  a  Quaker  by  birth. 
Even  as  a  child,  indeed,  there  seems  to  have  been 
very  little  of  the  Quaker  about  her  training. 
Both  her  mother  and  her  grandmother  had  been 
belles  and  they  evidently  had  resolved  that  the 
dainty  Dolly  should  lose  no  jot  or  tittle  of  her 
dower  of  good  looks  by  any  neglect  on  their 
part.  So  she  was  sent  to  school  with  long  gloves 
on  her  hands  and  arms  and  with  a  close  sun- 
bonnet  and  a  white  linen  mask  on  her  face.  But 
in  this  attention  to  her  outward  charms,  her 
inward  graces  were  not  neglected.  No  more 
sweet  and  lovely  character  may  be  found  in 
all  our  history  than  that  of  Dolly  Madison. 
At  nineteen  she  had  been  married  by  her  father 
to  Mr.  Todd,  a  lawyer  of  Philadelphia,  and  within 
two  years  had  borne  this  worthy  man  two 
children,  the  first  of  whom,  John  Payne  Todd, 
lived  to  be  the  joy  and  the  heartbreaking  sorrow 
of  her  womanhood.  Ere  she  was  twenty -two, 
however,  both  her  husband  and  her  second 
baby  had  died,  and  thus  it  was  that,  in  1794, 


178  ROMANTIC   DAYS 

she  was  being  sought  out  in  Philadelphia  by 
all  the  eligible  men  of  the  day,  among  them 
James  Madison,  twenty  years  her  senior,  who 
arranged  that  Aaron  Burr  should  take  him  to 
the  Payne  home  and  introduce  him  to  the 
fascinating  young  widow.  When  Dolly  came 
down  that  day  "  in  a  mulberry  colored  satin, 
and  a  silk  tulle  handkerchief  over  her  neck, 
and  on  her  head  an  exquisitely  dainty  little 
cap  from  which  an  uncropped  curl  would  es- 
cape "  she  must  have  looked  very  much  as  in 
our  picture.  We  do  not  at  all  wonder  that 
James  Madison  fell  head  over  heels  in  love  with 
her  and  promptly  set  about  to  make  her  his 
wife.  When  Mrs.  Washington  heard  of  the 
engagement  she  told  Mistress  Dolly  that  she 
was  very  glad  indeed  "  for  James  Madison  would 
make  her  a  good  husband."  Which  appears  to 
have  been  a  true  prophecy. 

It  is  also  true  that  no  wife  was  ever  more 
devoted  to  a  husband  than  this  lovely  woman 
to  her  "great  little  Madison."  Dr.  Mitchell, 
who  was  in  turn  representative  and  senator 
from  New  York,  said  of  her  in  1802:  "  She  has 
a  fine  person  and  a  most  engaging  countenance, 
which  pleases,  not  so  much  from  mere  symmetry 
or  complexion  as  from  expression.  Her  smile, 
her  countenance  and  her  manners  are  so  en- 
gaging, that  it  is  no  wonder  that  .  .  .  with 
her  fine  blue  eyes  and  large  share  of  anima- 


IN    THE    EARLY   REPUBLIC    179 

tion,   she   should    be,   indeed,  a  QUEEN    OF 
HEARTS." 

In  and  out  of  the  drawing-rooms  of  George- 
town, where  this  lady  "  queened  it,"  there  flitted, 
early  in  Jefferson's  administration,  a  poet  who 
could  very  well,  had  it  happened  to  occur  to  him, 
have  celebrated  Mrs.  Madison's  unique  charms. 
This  was  Tom  Moore,  then  twenty -four  years  old. 
Because  slight  and  dandified,  Moore  had  so 
little  impressed  Jefferson,  when  the  latter  met 
him  at  a  reception,  that  after  the  merest  word 
or  two  the  poet  was  allowed  by  the  President 
to  get  lost  in  the  crowd.  This  the  gifted  Irish- 
man could  not  forgive  and  so  fell  to  lampooning 
Jefferson  and  pretty  much  everything  else  Ameri- 
can. But  not  Niagara  Falls !  I  have  been  priv- 
ileged to  examine  the  scarcely-legible  manu- 
script journal  in  which  Moore  recorded  his 
enthusiasm  over  the  beauty  of  the  falls  and  one 
there  sees  that  his  emotion  was  so  great  that  he 
could  scarcely  find  words  to  express  it.  "  Never 
shall  I  forget,"  he  wrote,  "  the  impression  I 
felt  at  the  first  partial  glimpse  of  them,  which 
we  got  as  the  carriage  climbed  over  the  hill 
that  overlooks  them.  We  were  not  near  enough 
to  be  agitated  by  the  terrific  effects  of  the  scene 
but  I  saw  through  the  trees  this  mighty  flow 
of  waters  descending  with  [manuscript  illegible] 
magnificence  and  received  just  enough  of  its 
grandeur  to  set  imagination  on  the  wing.  ...  I 


180  ROMANTIC   DAYS 

felt  as  if  approaching  the  very  residence  of 
the  Deity.1  The  tears  started  into  my  eyes 
and  I  remained,  for  some  moments  after  we 
had  lost  sight  of  the  scene,  in  that  delicious 
absorption  which  only  pious  enthusiasm  can 
produce.  .  .  .  My  whole  heart  ascended  toward 
the  Divinity  in  a  swell  of  devout  admiration 
which  I  never  before  experienced.  Oh,  bring 
an  atheist  here  and  he  cannot  return  an  atheist. 
I  pity  the  man  who  can  coldly  sit  down  to  write 
a  description  of  these  ineffable  wonders.  ...  It 
is  impossible,  by  pen  or  by  pencil,  to  convey  the 
faintest  idea  of  their  magnificence.  Painting 
is  lifeless;  the  most  burning  words  of  poetry 
have  all  been  lavished  upon  inferior  subjects. 
One  should  have  new  combinations  of  language 
to  describe  the  falls  of  Niagara !  " 

'  Why,  he  is  a  poet  after  all !  "  Jefferson  is  said 
to  have  exclaimed  when,  years  after  his  lampoon- 
ing at  Moore's  hands,  he  was  given  a  volume 
of  the  Irish  melodies.  "  So  this  is  the  little  man 
who  satirized  me  so !  "  The  great  Democrat,  it  is 
thus  clear,  bore  the  little  Irishman  no  malice; 
indeed  Moore  shared  with  Burns  the  leisure 
hours  of  the  retired  statesman. 

1  It  is  interesting  to  set  alongside  of  this  outburst  of  splendid  faith 
in  a  good  and  gracious  Creator  Thomas  Paine's  belief  that  "  the- 
ology should  be  studied  in  the  works  or  books  of  the  creation." 
Thus  studied  it  "  causes  the  mind  to  become  at  once  enlightened  and 
serene.  Information  and  adoration  go  hand  in  hand."  (Existence 
of  God.) 


IN    THE    EARLY   REPUBLIC    181 

Jefferson  was  very  glad  to  go  "  back  to  the 
farm  "  when  his  time  came  to  lay  down  the 
cares  of  office.  There  is  no  question  that  he 
could  have  had  a  third  term  as  President,  if 
he  had  allowed  himself  to  be  nominated,  but 
he  accepted  as  wise  the  precedent  established 
by  Washington  in  this  matter  and  blithely  re- 
linquished to  his  successor,  James  Madison, 
his  post  as  Chief  Executive.  Never  was  he 
more  witty  and  more  charming  than  at  Mrs. 
Madison's  first  reception  in  the  White  House. 
As  the  ladies  pressed  near  him,  a  friend  whis- 
pered jestingly,  "  You  see,  they  will  follow  you." 
"  That  is  as  it  should  be,"  answered  Jefferson, 
"  since  I  am  too  old  to  follow  them.  I  remem- 
ber," he  added,  "  when  Dr.  Franklin's  friends 
were  taking  leave  of  him  in  France,  the  ladies 
almost  smothered  him  with  embraces.  On  his 
introducing  me  to  them  as  his  successor,  I 
told  them  that  among  the  rest  of  his  privileges, 
I  wished  he  would  transfer  this  one  to  me.  But 
he  answered,  '  No,  no;  you  are  too  young  a 


man.' 


What  appears  to  have  been  Washington's 
first  inaugural  ball  was  given  at  Davis's  Hotel 
the  evening  that  Jefferson  relinquished  to  Mad- 
ison the  "  heavy  burden  "  of  a  President.  It 
is  said  that  "  upwards  of  four  hundred  persons 
graced  the  scene,  which  was  not  a  little  enlivened 
by  the  handsome  display  of  female  fashion 


182  ROMANTIC    DAYS 

and  beauty."  Of  course  the  "  Lady  President- 
ess  "  was  the  centre  of  all  eyes  on  this  occasion. 
And  that  not  only  because  she  was  a  Queen  of 
Hearts;  she  must  also  have  been  a  splendid 
figure  to  look  upon  in  her  gown  of  yellow  velvet, 
her  neck  and  arms  hung  with  pearls  and  her 
head  surmounted  by  a  Parisian  turban,  from 
which  nodded  a  bird-of-paradise  plume. 

No  more  Jeffersonian  simplicity  now  at  the 
White  House!  A  contemporary  writer  tells 
us  that  the  Presidential  mansion  was  refurnished 
"  splendidly  "  throughout;  and  it  is  probably 
true  that  Dolly  Madison  procured  all  the  splen- 
dor she  could  for  the  modest  sum  of  five  thou- 
sand dollars  allowed  for  the  purpose.  An  ad- 
ditional thousand  was  granted  Mr.  Latrobe, 
we  learn,  for  the  curtains,  chairs  and  sofas  of 
the  drawing-room,  which  was  done  all  in  yellow 
satin  damask.  Here  Mrs.  Madison  was  soon 
receiving  her  own  friends,  her  husband's  and 
those  who  came  just  to  pay  their  respects,  with 
that  sunniness  of  manner  which  has  made  her 
name  almost  a  synonym  for  tact  and  hospitality. 
Even  shy  and  awkward  youths  from  the  country 
were  at  once  put  at  their  ease  by  her.  William 
C.  Preston,  in  his  unpublished  journal,1  gives 
an  instance  of  this  from  his  own  experience 
which  may  well  stand  as  typical:  He  was  then 
eighteen  —  and  so  full  of  self -consciousness. 

1  Quoted  by  Mrs.  Ellet  in  Court  Circles  of  the  Republic. 


IN    THE    EARLY   REPUBLIC    183 

No  wonder  there  had  been  "  utter  silence  in 
the  hack! "  as  he  made  his  way  to  the  White 
House.  He  says,  '*  The  appearance  of  the 
house  and  grounds  was  very  grand.  There 
was  a  multitude  of  carriages  at  the  door;  many 
persons  were  going  in  and  coming  out ;  especially 
many  in  gaudy  regimentals.  Upon  entering  a 
room  where  there  were  fifteen  or  twenty  persons, 
Mr.  Madison  turned  toward  us,  and  the  General 
said,  presenting  me,  '  My  young  kinsman,  Mr. 
Preston,  who  has  come  to  present  his  respects 
to  you  and  Mrs.  Madison.'  The  President  was 
a  little  man  with  a  powdered  head,  having  an 
abstracted  air  and  a  pale  countenance,  with  but 
little  flow  of  courtesy.  Around  the  room  was 
a  blaze  of  military  men  and  naval  officers  in 
brilliant  uniforms.  The  furniture  of  the  room 
with  the  brilliant  mirrors  was  very  magnificent. 
'  While  we  stood  Mrs.  Madison  entered  — 
a  tall,  portly  elegant  lady,  with  a  turban  on  her 
head  and  a  book  in  her  hand.  She  advanced 
straight  to  me  and,  extending  her  left  hand, 
said:  'Are  you  William  Campbell  Preston, 
the  son  of  my  old  friend  and  most  beloved  kins- 
woman, Sally  Campbell? '  I  assented.  She 
said:  *  Sit  down,  my  son;  for  you  are  my  son 
and  I  am  the  first  person  who  ever  saw  you  in 
this  world.  Mr.  Madison,  this  is  the  son  of 
Mrs.  Preston,  who  was  born  in  Philadelphia.' 
The  President  shook  hands  with  me  cordially. 


184  ROMANTIC    DAYS 

.  .  .  All  this  was  performed  with  an  easy 
grace  and  benignity  which  no  woman  in  the 
world  could  have  exceeded.  My  awkwardness 
and  terror  suddenly  subsided  into  a  romantic 
admiration  for  the  magnificent  woman  before 
me." 

Washington  Irving  gives  us  a  similarly  agree- 
able snap-shot  impression  of  one  of  these  Draw- 
ing Rooms,  where  he  found  "  a  crowded  collection 
of  great  and  little  men,  of  ugly  old  women 
and  beautiful  young  ones.  .  .  .  Mrs.  Madison 
is  a  fine,  portly  buxom  dame,  who  has  a  smile 
and  a  pleasant  word  for  everybody.  Her  sisters, 
Mrs.  Cutts  and  Mrs.  Washington,  are  like  the 
two  merry  wives  of  Windsor;  but  as  to  Jemmy 
Madison  —  ah !  poor  Jemmy !  —  he  is  but  a 
withered  little  apple- John." 

From  a  passage  in  another  Irving  letter,  writ- 
ten about  this  same  time,  we  learn  how  really 
primitive  in  some  ways  the  social  life  of  the  time 
was  —  even  in  the  nation's  capital.  '  When  you 
see  my  good  friend  Mrs.  Renwick,"  he  writes 
Mrs.  Hoffman,  "  tell  her  I  feel  great  compunc- 
tion at  having  deprived  her  of  her  Tartan  pladdie 
all  winter;  but  if  it  will  be  any  gratification  to 
her  she  may  be  assured  it  has  been  of  signal 
comfort  to  me,  and  has  occasionally  served  as  a 
mantle  to  some  of  the  prettiest  girls  in  Washington" 

This  is  the  more  interesting  when  it  is  re- 
called that  Mrs.  Renwick  was  the  heroine  of 


JAMES   MADISON. 
From  the  portrait  by  Gilbert  Stiiart  in  the  possession  of  Bowdoin  College. 


i  g 


IN    THE    EARLY   REPUBLIC    185 

Burns's  "  Blue-eyed  Lassie ",  that  she  had 
often  as  a  girl  met  Burns  at  her  father's  fireside 
and  had  inspired  in  him,  besides  the  verses  to 
her  blue  eyes,  which  are  printed  in  every  collec- 
tion of  his  works,  the  song  "  When  first  I  saw  my 
Jeanie's  face,"  which  is  scarcely  known  at  all 
but  whose  charming  last  stanza  makes  it  well 
worth  reprinting  here. 

"  But  gang  she  east,  or  gang  she  west, 
'Twixt  Nith  and  Tweed  all  over, 
While  men  have  eyes,  or  ears  or  taste, 
She'll  always  find  a  lover." 

It  was  to  the  lovely  lass  of  Annandale,  whom 
the  Scotch  bard  had  thus  celebrated,  and  whose 
New  York  home  was  a  cherished  resort  of 
Irving's,  that  the  author  of  the  Sketch  Book 
was  indebted  for  the  slip  of  ivy  from  Melrose, 
which,  planted  with  her  own  hands,  runs  now 
in  rich  luxuriance  over  the  walls  of  Sunny  side. 

We  must,  however,  hark  back  to  Washington 
with  its  gracious  "  Lady  Presidentess "  and 
her  "  withered  little  apple- John  "  of  a  "  Jemmy." 
Unquestionably  Mrs.  Madison  was  much  hap- 
pier in  social  life  than  the  President  could 
possibly  be.  He  took  no  pleasure  in  the  crowded 
dinners  and  parties  which  meant  much  to  her. 
Moreover  he  was  bowed  down  by  heavy  cares 
of  state;  for  the  War  of  1812  was  at  hand. 
Presently  a  British  fleet  actually  sailed  up  into 


186  ROMANTIC    DAYS 

Virginia  waters  and  the  White  House  family 
were  told  that  the  enemy  had  come  determined 
to  "  burn  them  out,"  Admiral  Cockburn  send- 
ing the  President's  wife  word  that  he  would  very 
soon  make  his  bow  at  her  drawing-room  door 
and  his  officers  pleasantly  adding  that  they 
would  capture  the  beautiful  Mrs.  Madison  and 
"  make  a  show  of  her  in  England!  "  It  appears, 
too,  that  the  British  came  fairly  near  fulfilling 
these  threats.  For  peace-loving  James  Madison 
was  no  leader  of  armies  and,  when  he  saw  the 
bayonets  of  the  enemy  glittering  in  the  distance, 
he  ingloriously  directed  his  companions  to 
leave  Blandensburg  to  the  commanding  general. 
Whereupon,  he  and  Armstrong  and  Monroe 
clambered  into  a  waiting  carriage  and  drove 
rapidly  away  in  the  direction  of  Washington. 
Much  sport  was  afterwards  made  of  this  retreat 
of  the  Commander-in-Chief  from  the  field  of 
battle  and  a  New  York  newspaper  writer 
wittily  declared  that 

"'Fly,  Monroe,  fly!    Run,  Armstrong,  run!' 
Were  the  last  words  of  Madison." 

Dolly  proved  herself  really  heroic,  however. 
To  her  sisters  she  wrote  as  the  enemy  drew  near, 
"  I  am  ready.  I  have  pressed  as  many  Cabinet 
papers  into  trunks  as  to  fill  one  carriage. 
Our  private  property  must  be  sacrificed,  as 
it  is  impossible  to  procure  wagons  for  its  trans- 


portation.  I  am  determined  not  to  go  myself 
until  I  see  Mr.  Madison  safe  and  he  can  ac- 
company me.  My  friends  and  acquaintances  are 

all  gone,  even  Colonel  C with  the  hundred 

men,  who  were  stationed  as  a  guard  in  this 
enclosure."  Only  after  two  messengers  had 
arrived  from  Mr.  Madison,  urging  her  flight, 
did  the  plucky  woman  consent  to  set  forth 
without  her  husband.  Before  leaving  she  pro- 
vided for  the  safety  of  the  large  picture  of 
General  Washington  by  Stuart,  which  was 
hanging  in  the  dining-room,  by  causing  it  to 
be  removed  from  its  heavy  frame  and  commit- 
ting it  to  the  care  of  Jacob  Barker  and  Robert 
G.  L.  Depeyster,  who  temporarily  secreted  it 
in  a  farmhouse  outside  the  city. 

To  the  struggle  which  culminated  in  this 
attack  upon  Washington  it  is  that  we  owe  the 
"  Star  Spangled  Banner  "  and,  though  the  story 
of  the  special  crisis  which  gave  occasion  to  that 
song  really  belongs  to  the  Baltimore  chapter, 
Francis  Scott  Key  must  here  be  mentioned  be- 
cause his  home  at  this  period  was  in  George- 
town. Georgetown  is,  also,  associated  with 
another  American  whom  we  remember  as  the 
author  of  a  single  song  —  John  Howard  Payne. 
For  there  in  Oak  Hill  Cemetery  rest  today  the 
mortal  remains  of  the  homeless  poet  who, 
in  touching  strains,  has  celebrated  for  all  time 
the  sweet  and  tender  joys  of  home. 


188  ROMANTIC    DAYS 

Washington  had  known  Payne  in  life,  too,  how- 
ever. For  he  was  often  in  the  city,  during  the 
period  of  the  Early  Republic,  visiting  Joel  Bar- 
low,1 poet  and  philosopher,  who  upon  his  return 
from  a  mission  to  France,  in  1805,  had  built  his 
mansion  Kalorama  on  a  natural  terrace  above 
Rock  Creek,  not  far  from  Twenty-first  Street. 
The  Barlows  were  great  friends  of  the  Madisons 
and  there  is  extant  a  delightful  letter  written  them 
by  Mistress  Dolly,  during  one  of  their  visits  to 
France,  in  which  she  requests  that  they  send 
her  "  by  a  safe  vessel  large  head-dresses,  a 
few  flowers,  feathers,  gloves  and  stockings, 
black  and  white,  with  anything  else  pretty  and 
suitable  for  an  economist." 

When  the  President  and  Mrs.  Madison  re- 
turned to  Washington,  forty-eight  hours  after 
their  flight,  they  found  their  home  a  black  and 
still-smoking  ruin.  Admiral  Cockburn  and  his 
men  had  spectacularly  worked  their  will.  For 
some  months  now  the  Presidential  headquarters 
were  in  the  home  of  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Richard 
Cutts  on  F  Street  and  then  the  Madisons  re- 
moved to  the  Octagon,  which  Colonel  John 
Tayloe  generously  placed  at  their  disposal. 

Colonel  Tayloe  was  reputed  to  be  the  richest 
Virginian  of  his  time  and  no  house  in  all  Wash- 

1  It  was  to  this  Joel  Barlow  that  Elizabeth  Whitman,  generally 
believed  to  have  furnished  Hawthorne  with  the  central  idea  of 
The  Scarlet  Letter,  wrote  the  only  letters  of  hers  which  have  been 
preserved.  See  my  Old  New  England  Churches,  p.  23  et  seq. 


IN    THE    EARLY   REPUBLIC     189 

ington  has  seen  more  of  magnificent  entertain- 
ing than  this  splendid  one  at  the  junction  of 
New  York  Avenue  and  Eighteenth  Street. 
The  reception  given  here  by  the  President  and 
Mrs.  Madison  after  the  signing  of  the  Treaty 
of  Ghent,  is  described  by  residents  of  the  capital 
as  the  most  brilliant  ever  held  in  Washington. 
Mrs.  Madison,  knowing  that  peace  was  assured 
and  that  her  beloved  husband  had  been  restored 
to  popularity,  was  especially  happy.  Now,  even 
more  than  previously  in  the  White  House,  in- 
deed, her  parties  and  receptions  were  brilliancy 
itself.  It  may  very  well  have  been  at  about  this 
time  that  the  Friend  from  Philadelphia  whom 
she  had  invited  to  dinner  replied  to  her  toast, 
"  Here's  to  thy  absent  broadbrim,  Friend  Hal- 
lowell,"  with  the  undaunted,  "  And  here's  to 
thy  absent  kerchief,  Friend  Dorothy!  "  Wash- 
ington ladies  were  rather  exaggeratedly  de- 
colletee  at  this  period.  Mrs.  Sea  ton  wrote  that 
Madame  Bonaparte,  having  set  the  fashion  in 
this  way,1  was  eagerly  imitated  by  all  the 

1  Was  it  of  Madame  Bonaparte,  we  wonder,  that  Mrs.  Smith 
wrote,  in  1804:  "  An  elegant  and  select  party  was  given  her  by  Mrs. 
Robert  Smith;  her  appearance  was  such  that  it  threw  all  the  com- 
pany into  confusion,  and  no  one  dar'd  to  look  at  her  but  by  stealth. 
.  .  .  Her  dress  was  the  thinnest  sarcenet  and  white  crepe.  .  .  ; 
there  was  scarcely  any  waist  to  it  and  no  sleeves;  her  back,  her  bosom, 
part  of  her  waist  and  her  arms  were  uncovered  and  the  rest  of  her 
form  visible.  She  was  engaged  the  next  evening  at  Madam  P's  .  .  . 
and  several  ladies  sent  her  word,  if  she  wished  to  meet  them  there 
she  must  promise  to  have  more  clothes  on." 


190  ROMANTIC    DAYS 

belles.  "  But  without  equal  eclat,  as  Madame 
Bonaparte  has  certainly  the  most  transcend- 
ently  beautiful  back  and  shoulders  that  ever 
were  seen."  Mrs.  Seaton,  also,  professed  her- 
self much  shocked  at  the  amount  of  powder 
and  rouge  used  by  the  Washington  women. 
"  Mrs.  Madison  is  said  to  rouge,  but  it  is  not 
evident  to  my  eyes,  and  I  do  not  think  it  true, 
as  I  am  well  assured  I  saw  her  colour  come  and 
go  at  the  naval  ball."  Mrs.  Seaton  was  the 
wife  of  the  editor  of  the  National  Intelligencer 
and  she  has  photographically  described  1  for  us 
many  a  splendid  party  of  the  day.  She  is  not 
above  telling  us,  too,  how  and  when  and  what 
Washington  people  ate  —  in  the  privacy  of  home 
as  well  as  at  levees  —  for  which  we  are  very  grate- 
ful to  her.  "It  is  customary,"  she  writes  her 
mother,  "  to  breakfast  here  at  nine  o'clock, 
dine  at  four  and  drink  tea  at  eight,  which  divi- 
sion of  time  I  do  not  like  but  am  compelled  to 
submit.  I  am  more  surprised  at  the  method 
of  taking  tea  here  than  any  other  meal.  In 
private  families,  if  you  step  in  of  an  evening, 
they  give  you  tea  and  crackers  and  cold  bread, 
and,  if  by  invitation,  unless  the  party  is  very 
splendid,  you  have  a  few  sweet-cakes,  —  mac- 
carroons  [sic]  from  the  confectioner's.  This 
is  the  extent.  Once  I  saw  a  ceremony  of  pre- 
serves at  tea.  But  the  deficiency  is  made  up 

1  In  William  Winston  Seaton:  A  Biographical  Sketch. 


IN    THE    EARLY   REPUBLIC    191 

by  the  style  at  dinner,  with  extravagant  wines 
etc.  Pastry  and  puddings  going  out  of  date  and 
wine  and  ice-creams  coming  in,  does  not  suit 
my  taste,  and  I  confess  to  preferring  Raleigh 
hospitality.  I  have  never  even  heard  [here]  of 
warm  bread  at  breakfast." 

Mrs.  Madison's  levee  of  New  Year's  Day, 
1814,  has  been  so  vividly  described  by  Mrs. 
Seaton  that  we  can  almost  see  the  paint  rolling 
down  from  the  ladies'  cheeks  as  she  pictures 
this  sad  result  of  over-heated  apartments.  ''  The 
marine  band,  stationed  in  the  ante-room,  con- 
tinued playing  in  spite  of  the  crowd  pressing 
on  their  very  heads.  But  if  our  pity  was  ex- 
cited for  these  hapless  musicians,  what  must 
we  not  have  experienced  for  some  members  of 
our  own  sex,  who,  not  foreseeing  the  excessive 
heat  of  the  apartments,  had  more  reason  to 
apprehend  the  efforts  of  nature  to  relieve  her- 
self from  the  effects  of  the  confined  atmos- 
phere. [!]  You  will  perhaps  not  understand  that  I 
allude  to  the  rouge  which  some  of  our  fashion- 
ables had  laid  on  with  unsparing  hand,  and 
which,  assimilating  with  the  pearl-powder, 
dust  and  perspiration,  made  them  altogether 
unlovely  to  soul  and  to  eye. 

"  Her  majesty's  appearance  was  truly  regal, 
—  dressed  in  a  robe  of  pink  satin  trimmed  elab- 
orately with  ermine,  a  white  velvet  and  satin 
turban,  with  nodding  ostrich  plumes  and  a 


192  ROMANTIC    DAYS 

crescent  in  front,  gold  chain  and  clasps  around 
the  waist  and  wrists.  'Tis  here  the  woman 
who  adorns  the  dress,  and  not  the  dress  that 
beautifies  the  woman.  I  cannot  conceive  a 
female  better  calculated  to  dignify  the  station 
which  she  occupies  in  society  than  Mrs.  Madison. 
Amiable  in  private  life  and  affable  in  public, 
she  is  admired  and  esteemed  by  the  rich  and 
beloved  by  the  poor.  You  are  aware  that  she 
snuffs;  but  in  her  hands  the  snuff-box  seems 
only  a  gracious  implement  with  which  to  charm. 
Her  frank  cordiality  to  all  guests  is  in  contrast 
to  the  manner  of  the  President,  who  is  very 
formal,  reserved  and  precise,1  yet  not  wanting 
in  a  certain  dignity.  Being  so  low  of  stature, 
he  was  in  imminent  danger  of  being  confounded 
with  the  plebeian  crowd;  and  was  pushed  and 
jostled  about  like  a  common  citizen,  —  but 
not  so  with  her  ladyship !  The  towering  feathers 
and  excessive  throng  distinctly  pointed  out  her 
station  wherever  she  moved."  It  is  to  Mrs. 
Seaton,  too,  that  we  owe  that  famous  story 

1  Mrs.  Smith,  who  knew  Madison  in  his  home-life,  tells  us  re- 
peatedly, however,  that  his  excessive  dignity  was  only  his  public 
manner.  It  appears  that  he  was  really  an  incessant  humorist  and, 
at  Montpelier,  used  to  set  his  table  guests  daily  into  roars  of  laughter 
over  his  stories  and  his  whimsical  way  of  telling  them.  As  late  as 
1828  she  writes,  while  visiting  at  the  Madisons'  home,  "  Mr.  Madison 
retains  all  the  sportiveness  of  his  character.  His  little  blue  eyes  .  .  . 
have  not  lost  the  look  of  mischief  that  used  to  lurk  in  their  corners, 
and  which  vanished  and  gave  place  to  an  expression  ever  solemn, 
when  the  conversation  took  a  serious  turn." 


IN    THE    EARLY   REPUBLIC    193 

about  the  exceedingly  good  breakfast  Lafayette 
made  when  he  was  at  Washington:  six  fine 
bay  perch,  considerable  bread,  Bordeaux, 
and  hominy,  and,  to  top  off,  a  whole  canvas- 
back  duck!  Not  that  Lafayette  had  developed 
into  a  gourmand  but  that  he  was  made  vora- 
ciously hungry  by  being  so  much  in  the  open 
air,  speech-making  and  viewing  processions. 

Mrs.  Benjamin  W.  Crowninshield  of  Salem, 
whose  husband  was  to  be  Secretary  of  the  Navy 
under  Monroe,  wrote  home  delightfully  chatty 
letters  about  Washington  in  the  winter  of  1815- 
1816.  Almost  immediately  after  her  arrival 
she  went  "  with  our  girls  to  see  Mrs.  Madison. 
She  lives  in  the  same  block  with  us.  I  did  not 
alter  my  dress.  Well,  we  rung  at  the  door, 
the  servant  showed  us  up  to  the  room  —  no 
one  there.  It  was  a  large  room,  had  three 
windows  in  front,  blue  window  curtains  which 
appeared  to  be  of  embossed  cambric  damask 
pattern,  red  silk  fringe.  The  floor  was  covered 
with  dark  blue  cloth,  two  little  couches  covered 
with  blue  patch,  a  small  sideboard  with  I  don't 
recollect  what  on  it. 

"  In  about  two  minutes  the  lady  appeared, 
received  us  very  agreeably,  noticed  the  children 
much,  inquired  their  names,  because  she  told 
them  she  meant  to  be  much  acquainted  with 
them.  You  could  not  but  feel  at  your  ease  in 
her  company.  She  was  dressed  in  a  white 


194  ROMANTIC   DAYS 

cambric  gown,  buttoned  all  the  way  up  in 
front,  a  little  strip  of  work  along  the  button- 
holes, but  ruffled  around  the  bottom.  A  peach- 
bloom-coloured  silk  scarf  with  a  rich  border  over 
her  shoulders  by  her  sleeves.  She  had  on  a 
spencer  of  satin  the  same  color,  and  likewise 
a  turban  of  velour  gauze,  all  of  peach  bloom. 
She  looked  very  well  indeed." 

Mrs.  Crowninshield  has  also  preserved  for 
us  a  picture  of  Mrs.  Madison  at  the  New  Year's 
Levee  of  1816.  "  Such  a  crowd  I  never  was  in. 
It  took  ten  minutes  to  push  and  shove  ourselves 
through  the  dining-room;  at  the  upper  part 
of  it  stood  the  President  and  his  lady,  all  stand- 
ing —  and  a  continual  moving  in  and  out. 
Two  other  small  parlours  open  and  all  full  — 
likewise  the  entry.  In  every  room  was  a  table 
with  wine  punch  and  cakes  and  the  servants 
squeezing  through  with  waiters  for  those  who 
could  not  get  to  the  table.  Some  of  the  ladies 
were  dressed  very  elegantly,  beautiful  bonnets 
and  pelisses,  shawls,  etc.  Mrs.  Madison  was 
dressed  in  a  yellow  satin,  embroidered  all  over 
with  sprigs  of  butterflies,  not  two  alike  in  the 
dress;  made  high  on  the  neck;  a  little  cape, 
long  sleeves,  and  a  white  bonnet  with  feathers. 
...  At  three  it  was  all  over  and  done.  I  was 
disappointed  in  my  pelisse.  First,  it  was  made 
too  short  —  it  was  then  pieced  down  and  the 
border  quilted;  it  really  looked  handsomer  — 


IN    THE   EARLY   REPUBLIC     195 

but  she  charged  ten  dollars  more  than  she  en- 
gaged to  make  it  for." 

Nothing  in  all  Washington,  indeed,  appears 
to  have  made  so  great  an  impression  upon 
Mrs.  Crowninshield  as  Mrs.  Madison's  frocks. 
Sometimes  the  First  Lady  is  in  "  sky  blue 
striped  velvet !  "  Again  she  is  in  black  velvet 
with  gold  embroidery  and  a  gorgeous  turban. 
Womanlike,  Mrs.  Crowninshield  herself  began 
to  long  for  more  and  handsomer  gowns,  remark- 
ing that  she  feared  to  be  "  taken  for  a  piece 
of  furniture  "  if  she  presented  herself  again  at 
the  Drawing  Room  in  the  same  dress  she  had 
several  times  worn.  Yet  if  the  New  England 
lady  lacked  the  fine  gowns  of  the  Southern 
women  she  also  lacked  their  unpleasant  habit 
of  taking  snuff.  "The  first  thing  Mrs.  Todd 
does  on  her  coming  in,"  she  writes,  "is  to  take 
from  the  shelf  a  tin  box  of  snuff  and  pass  it 
round.  I  keep  this  box  handy  as  all  the  ladies 
take  snuff,  but  I  have  not  got  in  the  fashion  yet, 
nor  I  don't  mean  to  learn  any  bad  habits." 

One  bad  habit  she  did  learn,  though:  she 
played  cards  for  money!  It  happened  in  this 
wise.  *  Yesterday  was  delightful  weather  (Feb- 
ruary 23,  1816).  .  .  .  Went  to  the  Navy  Yard 
to  see  the  monument  and  the  ruins.  Heard 
good  music.  Returned  and  walked  the  pave- 
ment till  dinner  time.  It  is  paved  in  front  of 
the  seven  buildings,  so  we  go  out  of  our  houses, 


196  ROMANTIC   DAYS 

and  sometimes  we  muster  a  large  party  if  it 
is  pleasant.  Mrs.  Madison  and  Mrs.  Todd 
on  one  side  and  Mrs.  Monroe's  family  on  the 
other,  and  the  ladies  of  our  family,  and  we  can 
always  find  gentlemen.  They  sit  in  the  door- 
way reading  papers.  .  .  .  Last  evening  I  was  at 
Mrs.  Monroe's  our  neighbor  —  quite  a  large 
party.  .  .  .  We  played  loo  and  I  won  —  I  am 
afraid  to  say  how  much,  but  shall  give  it  to  the 
orphan  asylum.  I  am  going  this  morning  to  carry 
my  winnings  to  Mrs.  Madison."  *  For  Mrs. 
Madison  was  a  "  directress  "  of  the  Washington 
Orphan  Asylum.  Her  name  may  be  found  on 
its  books  for  one  year  as  the  donor  of  twenty 
dollars  and  a  cow !  She  herself  played  for  money 
early  in  her  Washington  career  but  she  subse- 
quently gave  up  the  practice  and  declared  her- 
self sorry  that  she  had  ever  indulged  in  it. 

In  1817  "  Jemmy  "  Madison  was  succeeded 
by  "  Jemmy  "  Monroe.  The  journals  of  the 
day  were  wont  to  characterize  the  latter  as 
"  the  last  of  the  cocked  hats,"  in  recognition, 
doubtless,  of  the  fact  that  Monroe  was  the  last 
of  the  Presidents  to  adhere  to  the  old-fashioned 
style  of  dress  —  dark  blue  coat,  buff  vest,  doeskin 
buff -colored  breeches,  top  boots  and  the  mili- 
tary cocked  hat  of  the  Revolutionary  era. 
Jefferson  once  remarked  of  Monroe  that  he  was 
so  perfectly  honest  that  "  if  his  soul  were 

1  Letters  of  Mary  Boardman  Crowninshield,  1815-1816. 


IN    THE   EARLY   REPUBLIC    197 

turned  inside  out,  not  a  spot  would  be  found 
on  it."  So  noble  a  man  was  worthy  of  a  noble 
wife,  and  such  an  one  he  found  in  Miss  Eliza 
Kortwright  of  New  York,  a  lady  who  appears 
to  have  possessed  remarkable  beauty  as  well 
as  all  the  fine  womanly  graces.  Inasmuch  as 
she  had  been  with  her  husband  when  he  served 
his  country  as  Minister  to  France  she  had  the 
social  gift  also  which  residence  abroad  is  likely 
to  bestow. 

Of  the  two  daughters  who  officiated  with  her 
as  ladies  of  the  White  House  the  elder,  Eliza, 
had  had  the  advantage  of  education  under  Ma- 
dame Campan  in  the  celebrated  school  at  St. 
Germain.  The  first  really  authenticated  ap- 
pearance of  this  little  girl,  indeed,  is  in  Madame 
Campan's  Private  Memoirs  where  she  is  men- 
tioned as  walking  with  her  father  and  teacher 
in  the  beautiful  St.  Germain's  wood  in  the  year 
1794,  a  very  memorable  year  to  ardent  demo- 
crats like  Madame  Campan  l  and  Mr.  Monroe. 
Quite  naturally  they  were  talking  of  the  advan- 
tages to  be  derived  from  life  in  a  Republic  — 
like  America.  Suddenly  the  little  maiden  by 
their  side  was  discovered  to  be  saying,  "  Yes, 
papa,  but  there  are  no  streets  in  America  like 
these,"  pointing  out  to  the  fine  highways. 

1  The  brother  of  Madame  Campan,  Citizen  Genet,  married 
Cornelia  Tappan  Clinton  (daughter  of  New  York's  governor),  and 
fixed  his  residence  here. 


198  ROMANTIC    DAYS 

"  Very  true,  my  dear,"  replied  the  American 
Minister;  "  our  nation  may  be  compared  to 
a  newly-formed  household  —  we  are  in  want  of 
many  things.  But  we  possess  the  finest  thing 
of  all  —  liberty." 

One  of  Eliza  Monroe's  friends  at  St.  Germain 
was  Hortense  de  Beauharnais,  the  daughter 
of  Josephine,  and  the  attachment  thus  formed 
was  never  allowed  to  lapse.  When  the  American 
girl  grew  up  and  married  her  first  child  was 
named  Hortensia  after  the  Queen  of  Holland, 
and  there  are  still  preserved  in  the  family  some 
charming  letters  sent  by  the  famous  French- 
woman at  this  time  to  the  American  whom  she 
had  come  to  love  while  both  were  Madame 
Campan's  pupils. 

One  of  Mrs.  Monroe's  levees  at  the  White 
House  has  been  thus  pictured  by  Mrs.  Tuley, 
then  of  Virginia: *  "  Mr.  Monroe  was  standing 
near  the  door,  and  as  we  were  introduced  we 
had  the  honour  of  shaking  hands  with  him  and 
passing  the  usual  congratulations  of  the  season. 
My  impressions  of  Mr.  Monroe  are  very  pleasing. 
He  is  tall  and  well  formed.  His  dress  was  plain 
and  in  the  old  style,  small  clothes,  silk  hose, 
knee-buckles,  and  pumps  fastened  with  buckles. 
His  manner  was  quiet  and  dignified.  .  .  . 

*  We  passed  on  and  were  presented  to  Mrs. 
Monroe  and  her  two  daughters,  Mrs.  Judge 

1  The  entire  letter  was  later  reprinted  in  the  Phdqdolphia  Times. 


IN   THE   EARLY   REPUBLIC    199 

Hay,  and  Mrs.  Gouverneur,  who  stood  by  their 
mother  and  assisted  her  in  receiving.  Mrs. 
Monroe's  manner  is  very  gracious  and  she  is  a 
regal -looking  lady.  Her  dress  was  superb  black 
velvet;  neck  and  arms  bare  and  beautifully 
formed;  her  hair  in  puffs  and  dressed  high  on 
the  head  and  ornamented  with  white  ostrich 
plumes;  around  her  neck  an  elegant  pearl 
necklace.  ...  In  Paris  she  was  called  *  la 
belle  Americaine.' 

"  Mrs.  Judge  Hay  (the  President's  eldest 
daughter)  is  very  handsome  also  —  tall  and 
graceful,  and,  I  hear,  very  accomplished  .  .  . 
her  dress  was  crimson  velvet,  gold  cord  and 
tassel  round  the  waist,  white  plumes  in  the  hair, 
handsome  jewelry,  bare  neck  and  arms.  The 
other  daughter,  Mrs.  Gouverneur,  is  also  very 
handsome  —  dress,  rich  white  satin,  trimmed 
with  a  great  deal  of  blonde  lace,  embroidered 
with  silver  thread,  bare  neck  and  arms,  pearl 
jewelry  and  white  plumes  in  the  hair.  By  the 
by,  plumes  in  the  hair  seem  to  be  the  most 
fashionable  style  of  head  dress  for  married  ladies. 

"  All  the  lower  rooms  were  opened,  and 
though  well  filled,  not  uncomfortably  so.  The 
rooms  were  warmed  by  great  fires  of  hickory 
wood  in  the  large  open  fire-places,  and  with  the 
handsome  brass  andirons  and  fenders  quite  re- 
mind me  of  our  grand  old  wood  fires  in  Virginia. 
Wine  was  handed  about  in  wine-glasses  on  large 


200  ROMANTIC    DAYS 

silver  salvers  by  coloured  waiters,  dressed  in 
dark  livery,  gilt  buttons  etc.  I  suppose  some 
of  them  must  have  come  from  Mr.  Monroe's 
old  family  seat,  '  Oak  Hill '  Virginia." 

Another  woman  letter-writer  of  this  period 
has  recorded  that  the  President's  wife  "  is 
certainly  the  Ninon  of  the  day  and  looks  more 
beautiful  than  any  woman  of  her  age  I  ever  saw. 
She  did  the  honours  of  the  White  House  with 
perfect  simplicity."  But  though  Mrs.  Monroe 
did  these  honors  well  she  did  not  do  them  often. 
She  had  lived  in  Washington  long  enough  and 
had  seen  enough  of  the  social  life  of  the  last 
administration  to  realize  that  White  House 
entertaining  could  no  longer  be  conducted  on  the 
generous  lines  established  by  Mrs.  Madison. 
Very  soon  after  her  husband  came  into  office, 
therefore,  she  made  her  position  in  this  matter 
known.  Mrs.  Seaton  writes  (in  1818) :  "  It  is  said 
that  the  dinner-parties  of  Mrs.  Monroe  will  be 
very  select.  Mrs.  Hay  returned  the  visits  paid 
to  her  mother,  making  assurances,  in  the  most 
pointedly  polite  manner,  that  Mrs.  Monroe 
will  be  happy  to  see  her  friends  morning  or 
evening,  but  that  her  health  is  totally  inade- 
quate to  visiting  at  present!  Mrs.  Hay  is 
understood  to  be  her  proxy."  In  order  to  make 
quite  clear  the  position  of  the  latest  First  Lady 
in  this  matter  of  calls  John  Quincy  Adams, 
then  Secretary  of  State,  drew  up  a  code  of 


MRS.   JAMES   MONROE. 

From  the  miniature  painted  by  Sene  in  Paris  in  1794. 


JOHN    QUINCY    ADAMS. 
From  the  portrait  by  Leslie  in  the  possession  of  Brooks  Adams,  Quincy,  Massachusetts. 


IN    THE   EARLY   REPUBLIC    201 

social  etiquette,  very  similar  to  that  formerly 
used  by  President  Washington  and  so  practical, 
from  the  official  standpoint,  that  with  a  few 
modifications  it  has  sufficed,  ever  since,  to 
regulate  social  life  in  the  capital. 

As  might  be  expected  Mrs.  Monroe's  recep- 
tions were  the  more  highly  regarded  just  be- 
cause they  were  infrequent.  Phoebe  Morris, 
writing  to  Mrs.  Madison,  January  19,  1824 
says,  "  Mrs.  Monroe  is  really  going  to  have  a 
Drawing  Room  on  Wednesday.  You  have  no 
doubt  seen  the  description  of  Mrs.  Hay's 
personal  elegance  of  deportment  and  costume 
in  the  papers.  We  all  attended  Mrs.  Adams's 
reception  on  the  8th,  and  it  was  really  a  very 
brilliant  party,  and  admirably  well  arranged. 
The  ladies  climbed  the  chairs  and  benches  to 
see  General  Jackson  [Jackson  and  John  Quincy 
Adams  were  rival  candidates  for  the  Presidency 
at  this  time]  and  Mrs.  Adams  very  gracefully 
took  his  arm  and  walked  through  the  apart- 
ments with  him,  which  gratified  the  general 
curiosity." 

But  though  Jackson,  as  "  Hero  of  New  Or- 
leans," was  so  eagerly  stared  at  on  this  occasion, 
it  was  John  Quincy  Adams  and  not  he  whom  the 
people  chose  the  following  year  to  be  head  of  the 
nation.  No  more  patriotic  and  honorable  man 
ever  lived  than  this  sixth  President  of  the  United 
States.  And  no  public  officer  has  ever  been  so 


202  ROMANTIC    DAYS 

little  understood.  Austere  and  utterly  lacking 
at  first  acquaintance  in  genial  human  qualities 
he  repelled  most  persons  who  came  in  contact 
with  him.  He  knew  this,  too,  and  once  remarked 
humorously  that  his  excellent  mother's  dictum 
that  "  children  should  be  seen  and  not  heard  " 
had  wrought  his  social  ruin.  In  a  previous  book 
of  mine  l  I  have  quoted  a  youthful  letter  of 
Quincy  Adams's  in  which  he  complained  that 
too  many  of  the  Boston  belles,  encountered 
during  a  gay  visit  to  that  city,  were  "  like  a 
beautiful  apple  that  is  insipid  to  the  taste." 
He  had  no  mind  to  choose  such  an  one  for  a 
wife.  The  woman  he  married  has,  on  the  con- 
trary, been  characterized  as  the  most  scholarly  2 
who  ever  presided  over  the  White  House. 
Born,  educated  and  married  in  London,  where 
her  father  was  first  American  consul,  Louisa 
Catherine  Johnson  added  to  the  social  grace  com- 
mon to  those  bred  up  in  courts  very  real  culture 
and  a  deep  love  of  domestic  life.  She  and  her  hus- 
band were  perfectly  congenial,  for  she  well  knew 
that  the  man's  heart  was  of  gold  and  strove  ever 
to  help  him  make  the  best  of  himself  to  the  out- 
side world.  Necessarily,  though,  her  husband's 
manner  of  life  considerably  affected  the  social 
functions  over  which  it  was  her  duty  to  preside. 

1  See  Old  Boston  Days  and  Ways,  p.  401. 

2  She  was  wont  to  read  Plato  in  the  intervals  of  social  and  domes- 
tic duties! 


IN    THE    EARLY   REPUBLIC    203 

For  instance:  White  House  receptions  had  to 
break  up  well  before  ten  o'clock  in  order  that 
the  President  might  get  to  bed  early!  He  had 
to  be  up  betimes;  in  winter  at  five,  that  he 
might  go  abroad  for  a  two  hours  walk  under  the 
light  of  the  moon  and  stars,  nearly  always  re- 
turning in  time  to  see  the  sun  rise  from  his 
favorite  eastern  window.  Then  he  made  his 
own  fire  and  sat  down  to  read  three  chapters 
of  the  Bible  with  the  accompaniment  of  various 
commentaries  before  breakfast.  On  summer 
mornings  a  swim  in  the  Potomac  took  the  place 
of  the  walk,  the  President,  who  was  a  strong 
swimmer,  often  remaining  in  the  water  two  hours 
or  more.  But  he  characteristically  takes  him- 
self to  task  in  his  Diary  for  thus  indulging  in 
swimming  —  merely  that  he  might  show  of 
what  feats  he  was  capable! 

Early  rising  was  the  only  excess,  however,  in 
which  President  Adams  indulged.  The  same 
thing  was  true  of  President  Quincy  of  Harvard, 
and  both  gentlemen  were  therefore  likely  to 
take  gentle  little  cat-naps  whenever  they  were 
seated  quietly  anywhere  for  ten  minutes  at 
a  time.  One  day,  we  are  told,  they  went  to- 
gether into  Judge  Story's  lecture-room  to  hear 
that  distinguished  jurist  read  his  lecture  to  a 
law  school  class.  The  Judge  received  the  vis- 
itors with  his  usual  politeness,  placed  them  on  the 
platform  by  his  side,  in  full  view  of  the  class, 


204  ROMANTIC    DAYS 

and  then  went  on  with  his  talk.  In  a  very  few 
minutes  both  Presidents  were  fast  asleep!  The 
Judge  paused  a  moment,  then,  pointing  to  the 
sleeping  dignitaries,  said,  "  Gentlemen,  you  see 
before  you  a  melancholy  example  of  the  evil 
effects  of  early  rising."  This  remark  was  fol- 
lowed by  a  shout  of  laughter  which,  of  course^ 
at  once  aroused  the  visitors  from  their  slumbers. 
A  kinsman  of  these  early  risers,  Josiah  Quincy 
of  Boston,  has  left  us  perhaps  the  best  picture 
that  we  have  of  Washington  society  at  just 
this  time.  To  the  dinners  of  the  day  considerable 
space  is  given  l  particularly  to  one  dinner  which 
he  enjoyed  in  the  home  of  Daniel  Webster,  then 
a  member  of  the  House  and  just  coming  into 
his  own  as  a  figure  of  national  importance. 
The  beautiful  affection  which  existed  between 
Webster  and  his  wife  made  an  especially  deep 
impression  upon  young  Quincy,  then  himself 
but  five  years  out  of  college  and  with  a  keen 
eye  for  such  relationships.  "  It  was  like  organ 
music,"  he  says,  "  to  hear  Webster  speak  to 
or  of  the  being  upon  whom  his  affections  re- 
posed, and  whom,  alas !  he  was  so  soon  to  lose. 
I  am  sure  that  those  who  knew  the  man  only 
when  this  tenderest  relation  had  been  terminated 
by  death,  never  knew  him  in  his  perfect  sym- 
metry. Whatever  evil-speakers  may  choose 
to  say  about  the  subsequent  career  of  Daniel 

1  In  Figures  of  the  Past,  by  Josiah  Quincy. 


IN    THE   EARLY   REPUBLIC    205 

Webster,  he  was  at  that  time  *  whole  as  the 
marble,  founded  as  the  rock.' '  Mr.  Quincy  also 
enjoyed  the  hospitality  of  the  Vice-President, 
who  "  contrary  to  custom,  had  come  up  to  the 
capital  and  was  actually  doing  the  work  of  his 
place.  The  usage  had  been  for  the  holders  of 
this  office  to  stay  quietly  at  home,  draw  their 
salaries  and  allow  some  senator  to  preside  in  the 
upper  house." 

Miss  Calhoun,  the  Vice-President's  daughter, 
delighted  young  Quincy  by  her  intelligent 
grasp  on  the  political  situation.  "  I  well  re- 
member," he  says,  "  the  clearness  with  which 
she  presented  the  Southern  view  and  the  in- 
genuity with  which  she  parried  such  objections 
as  I  was  able  to  present.  The  fashionable  ladies 
of  the  South  had  received  the  education  of 
political  thought  and  discussion  to  a  degree 
unknown  among  their  sisters  of  the  North. 
'  She  can  read  bad  French  and  play  a  few  tunes 
upon  the  piano,'  said  a  cynical  friend  of  mine 
concerning  a  young  lady  who  had  completed 
the  costly  education  of  a  fashionable  school 
in  New  York,  *  but  upon  my  word  she  does  not 
know  whether  she  is  living  in  a  monarchy  or 
a  republic/  The  sneer  would  never  have  been 
applied  to  the  corresponding  class  at  the  South. 
These  ladies  were  conversant  with  political 
theories,  and  held  definite  political  opinions." 

The   social   features   of   Washington   at   the 


206  ROMANTIC    DAYS 

time  of  this  visit,  were  evening  parties.  :'  The 
company  assembled  about  eight,"  our  author 
tells  us,  "  and  began  to  break  up  shortly  before 
eleven,  having  enjoyed  the  recreation  of  dancing, 
card-playing,  music  or  conversation.  Every- 
body in  the  city  who  occupied  the  necessary 
social  position  appeared  at  these  gatherings; 
and  being  at  the  age  when  the  tinsel  of  Vanity 
Fair  is  at  its  full  glitter,  I  enjoyed  them  highly. 
My  first  Washington  party  was  at  Mrs.  Wirt's, 
where  I  was  taken  as  a  stranger  by  Mr.  and 
Mrs.  Webster.  ...  1  was  there  presented  to 
a  lady  whose  beauty  was  the  admiration  of 
Washington  and  whose  name  was,  consequently, 
upon  every  tongue,  —  at  least  something  like 
her  name;  for  society  had  decreed  that  this 
fair  woman  should  be  known  as  Mrs.  Florida 
White,  her  husband  being  a  delegate  from  our 
most  southern  territory.  Very  splendid  in  her 
beauty  was  Mrs.  White."  This  Mrs.  White 
it  was  who  was  afterwards  known  in  Paris  as 
"  la  belle  sauvage "  by  reason  of  an  incident 
which  amusingly  illustrates  the  dense  ignorance 
which  then  obtained  in  France  concerning  Am- 
erican life  and  customs.  A  fancy  dress  ball 
was  to  be  given  by  one  of  the  members  of  the 
Bonaparte  family  and,  on  receiving  her  invita- 
tion, Mrs.  White  asked  her  hostess  what  she 
should  wear.  "  An  American  costume,  of 
course,"  was  the  prompt  reply.  "  But,"  said 


IN    THE   EARLY   REPUBLIC    207 

Mrs.  White,  "  we  have  no  original  American 
costumes;  we  follow  your  fashions."  The 
Frenchwoman  was  not  to  be  convinced,  how- 
ever, that  natives  of  Kentucky  (Mrs.  White's 
birthplace)  were  not,  when  at  home,  arrayed 
as  are  the  Indians  and  so,  accepting  the  hint, 
Mrs.  White  appeared  at  the  ball  as  an  Indian 
girl,  gay  with  beads  and  feathers,  a  quiver  at 
her  back  and  a  bow  in  her  hand.  Mrs.  Edward 
Livingston  and  her  charming  daughter,  Miss 
Cora  Livingston,  were  other  women  whom  the 
visitor  from  Massachusetts  met  and  admired 
at  Mrs.  Wirt's  party.  Of  Mrs.  Livingston  we 
shall  hear  more  when  we  come  to  the  New 
Orleans  chapter.  Suffice  it  here  to  say  that  her 
Washington  salon  at  this  time  was  no  less  famous 
than  the  one  she  had  previously  conducted 
in  the  chief  city  of  Louisiana. 

Watching  Washington's  first  waltz  was  an- 
other of  Josiah  Quincy's  delectable  experiences 
during  this  visit  to  the  capital  in  1826.  The 
scene  was  a  "  public  ball  "  and  the  chief  per- 
former Baron  Stackelburg,  "  who  whirled 
through  the  mazes  of  this  dance  with  a  huge 
pair  of  dragoon  spurs  bound  to  his  heels.  The 
danger^of  interfering  with  the  other  dancers, 
which  seemed  always  imminent,  was  skilfully 
avoided  by  the  Baron,  who  received  a  murmur 
of  appreciative  applause  as  he  led  his  partner 
to  her  seat.  The  question  of  the  decorum  of 


208  ROMANTIC    DAYS 

this  strange  dance  was  distinctly  raised  upon 
its  first  appearance,  and  it  was  nearly  twenty- 
five  years  later  before  remonstrances  ceased 
to  be  heard.  How  far  the  waltz  and  its  suc- 
cessors of  a  similar  character  may  be  compatible 
with  feminine  modesty  is  a  question  which 
need  not  here  be  discussed.  It  is  sufficient  to 
say  that,  socially  speaking,  it  has  proved  an 
unmitigated  nuisance.  It  has  utterly  routed 
the  intellectual  element  that  was  once  conspic- 
uous even  in  fashionable  gatherings.  It  has 
not  only  given  society  over  to  the  young  and 
inexperienced,  but,  by  a  perverse  process  of 
wnnatural  selection,  it  has  pushed  to  the  front 
by  no  means  the  best  specimens  of  these." 

Mr.  Quincy  on  the  evils  of  the  waltz  is  much 
less  vital  and  suggestive  than  Mr.  Quincy  on 
the  evils  of  aristocratic  government,  however. 
So  I  want  to  turn  back  to  his  dinner  at  the  Cal- 
houns'  and  to  some  conversation  which  there 
went  on.  "  Mr.  Calhoun,  with  the  fore  sight 
of  a  politician,"  we  are  told,  "  was  accustomed 
to  make  himself  agreeable  to  young  men  ap- 
pearing in  Washington  who  might  possibly 
rise  to  influence  in  their  respective  communities. 
It  was  probably  with  a  view  to  such  a  contin- 
gency that  he  favoured  me  with  a  long  disserta- 
tion upon  public  affairs.  He  never  alluded 
to  the  subject  of  slavery  though  it  was  easy 
to  see  that  reference  to  this  interest  shaped 


IN    THE   EARLY   REPUBLIC    209 

his  opinions  about  tariff,  State  rights,  internal 
improvements,  and  other  questions,  with  which, 
on  the  surface,  it  had  small  connection.  The 
concluding  words  of  this  aggressive  Democrat 
made  an  ineffaceable  impression  upon  my  mind. 
They  were  pronounced  in  a  subdued  tone  of 
esoteric  confidence,  such  as  an  ancient  augur 
might  have  used  to  a  neophyte  in  his  profession. 
Substantially  they  were  these:  '  Now,  from 
what  I  have  said  to  you,  I  think  you  will  see 
that  the  interests  of  the  gentlemen  of  the  North 
and  those  of  the  South  are  identical.'  I  can 
quote  no  utterance  more  characteristic  of  the 
political  Washington  of  twenty-six  than  this. 
The  inference  was  that  the  '  glittering  general- 
izations '  of  the  Declaration  were  never  meant 
to  be  taken  seriously.  Gentlemen  were  the  natural 
rulers  of  America,  after  all.  It  has  taken  all 
the  succeeding  half-century  to  reach  a  vital 
belief  that  the  people  and  not  gentlemen  (using 
the  word,  of  course,  in  its  common  and  narrow 
sense)  are  to  govern  this  country.  It  will  take 
much  more  than  another  half-century  before 
the  necessary  and  (in  the  end)  beneficent  con- 
sequences of  this  truth  shall  be  fully  realized." 

Already,  however,  the  issue  between  "  gentle- 
men "  and  "  the  people  "  had  come  to  be  a 
clear-cut  one  in  Washington.  As  the  four  years 
term  of  John  Quincy  Adams  drew  to  a  close 
the  opposition  which  had  long  been  felt  towards 


210  ROMANTIC    DAYS 

him  grew  very  bitter  and  very  vocal.  Because 
he  was  cold  and  reserved  he  was  charged  with 
being  a  monarchist  and  an  aristocrat.  It  was 
further  alleged  against  him:  that  he  had  married 
an  English  woman;  that  he  was  rich,  and  that 
he  had  received  large  sums  of  public  money, 
some  of  which  he  had  spent  in  installing  a 
billiard  room  in  the  White  House  (!).  Against 
Andrew  Jackson  plenty  of  half -true  things  were 
also  urged  but  the  "  Hero  of  New  Orleans " 
was  the  people's  choice  nevertheless,  so  that  we 
find  the  second  Adams  solemnly  recording  in 
his  diary,  almost  as  his  mother  had  done  thirty 
years  before,  when  to  his  father,  also,  had  been 
denied  the  honor  of  a  second  term,  "  The  places 
that  have  known  us  shall  know  us  no  more." 

Yet  Mrs.  Adams  went  out,  as  she  had  come 
in,  with  impressive  social  grace.  At  her  last 
Drawing  Room  the  great  audience  chamber, 
never  before  opened  and  then  only  just  finished, 
was  thrown  open  for  dancing,  a  thing  unheard 
of  before  at  a  Drawing  Room. 

In  strange  contrast  with  the  dignity  of  pre- 
vious Presidential  inaugurations  was  that  of 
Andrew  Jackson,  if  we  may  trust  contemporary 
reports.  '  When  the  President's  address  was 
concluded,"  says  Mrs.  Samuel  Harrison  Smith,1 

1  Mrs.  Smith  was  the  wife  of  the  editor  of  the  National  Intelligencer, 
which  conservative  organ  necessarily  disapproved  of  the  "  People  " 
and  the  "  People's  President." 


MRS.    JOHN    QUINCY    ADAMS. 

From  the  portrait  by  Leslie  in  the  possession  of  Brooks  Adams,  Quincy,  Massachusetts. 


IN    THE    EARLY   REPUBLIC    211 

"  the  barricades  gave  way  before  the  multitude, 
who  forced  a  passage  to  shake  hands  with  the 
choice  of  the  people.  General  Jackson  mounted 
his  horse,  having  walked  to  the  Capitol,  and  then, 
such  a  cortege  followed !  Countrymen,  laborers, 
white  and  black,  —  carriages,  wagons,  and  carts, 
all  pursuing  him  to  the  President's  house.  .  .  . 
The  closing  scene  was  in  disgusting  contrast 
with  the  simplicity  of  the  impressive  drama 
of  the  inaugural  oath!  The  President  was 
literally  pursued  by  a  motley  concourse  of 
people,  riding,  running,  helter-skelter,  striving 
who  should  first  gain  admittance  into  the  Exec- 
utive Mansion,  where  it  was  understood  that 
refreshments  were  to  be  distributed.  The  halls 
were  filled  with  a  disorderly  rabble  of  negroes, 
boys,  women,  and  children  scrambling  for  the 
refreshments  designed  for  the  drawing-rooms, 
the  people  forcing  their  way  into  the  saloons, 
mingling  with  the  foreigners  and  citizens  sur- 
rounding the  President.  .  .  .  China  and  glass 
to  the  amount  of  several  thousand  dollars  were 
broken  in  the  struggle  to  get  at  the  ices  and 
cakes,  though  punch  and  other  drinkables 
had  been  carried  out  in  tubs  and  buckets  to 
the  people;  but  had  it  been  in  hogsheads  it 
would  have  been  insufficient  besides  unsatis- 
factory to  the  mob,  who  claimed  equality  in  all 
things.  .  .  .  The  confusion  became  more  and 
more  appalling.  At  one  moment  the  President, 


212  ROMANTIC    DAYS 

who  had  retreated  until  he  was  pressed  against 
the  wall  of  the  apartment,  could  only  be  se- 
cured against  serious  danger  by  a  number  of 
gentlemen  linking  arms  and  forming  themselves 
into  a  barrier.  It  was  then  that  the  windows 
were  thrown  open  and  the  living  torrent  found 
an  outlet.  ...  It  was  the  People's  day,  the 
People's  President  and  the  People  would  rule." 
What  manner  of  man  was  this  "  People's 
President?  "  The  answers  which  the  contempo- 
rary documents  of  Jackson's  day  give  to  this 
query  depend  altogether  upon  the  inherited  prej- 
udices and  political  bias  of  their  respective 
writers.  Josiah  Quincy  suggests  that  there  were 
two  Andrew  Jacksons,  one  the  person  whom 
he  himself  attempted  to  describe,  the  other 
''  the  Jackson  of  comic  myth."  That  the  com- 
posite Jackson  had  in  him,  however,  much  that 
was  admirable  one  is  forced  to  admit  after  read- 
ing the  following  from  the  pen  of  a  writer  who, 
by  birth  and  training,  was  little  predisposed  to 
be  favorably  impressed  by  the  newcomer  at  the 
White  House.  "  Although  I  have  only  a  holiday 
acquaintance  with  the  General,"  wrote  Mr. 
Quincy,  "  and  although  a  man  certainly  puts 
on  his  best  manners  when  undergoing  a  public 
reception,  the  fact  was  borne  in  upon  me  that 
the  seventh  President  was,  in  essence,  a  knightly 
personage,  —  prejudiced,  narrow,  mistaken  upon 
many  points,  it  might  be,  but  vigorously  a 


IN    THE    EARLY   REPUBLIC    213 

gentleman  in  his  high  sense  of  honor  and  in  the 
natural  straightforward  courtesies  which  are 
easily  to  be  distinguished  from  the  veneer  of 
policy." 

Jackson  was  the  first  President  to  lack  the 
advantage  of  early  association  with  those  to 
whom  the  amenities  of  life  mean  much.  By 
the  time  he  was  twenty-one  he  had  worked  at 
the  saddler's  trade,  taught  school,  been  clerk 
in  a  store,  served  as  constable,  studied  law  and 
got  a  lawyer's  license.  His  boyhood  days  were 
passed  in  a  Carolina  pine-woods  where,  as  Parton 
says,  "  he  learned  to  read,  to  write,  to  cast  ac- 
counts —  little  more.  .  .  .  He  was  never  a  well- 
informed  man.  He  never  was  addicted  to 
books.  He  never  learned  to  write  the  English 
language  correctly,  though  he  often  wrote  it 
eloquently  and  vigorously."  A  man's  man, 
with  a  life  full,  in  its  early  years,  of  betting, 
racing,  cock-fighting,  and  carousing,  Jackson 
supplies  a  striking  example  of  a  character  com- 
pletely transformed  by  tender,  passionate  love 
for  a  good  woman.  So  much  did  this  woman 
mean  to  him,  indeed,  that  he  made  many  griev- 
ous mistakes  in  judgment,  after  he  had  been 
elected  to  the  presidency,  out  of  sheer  chival- 
rous regard  for  her  sainted  memory  and  for 
what  she  had  suffered  in  life. 

Mrs.  Jackson  never  coveted  a  place  in  the 
White  House.  When  the  news  of  the  General's 


214  ROMANTIC    DAYS 

election  reached  her,  in  her  Tennessee  home,  she 
said,  "  Well,  for  Mr.  Jackson's  sake,  I'm  glad; 
for  my  own  sake  I  never  wished  it."  She  had 
not  been  happy  in  Washington  when  her  hus- 
band was  senator  there.  For  a  time,  indeed,  it 
seemed  doubtful  if  any  of  the  society  leaders 
of  the  day  would  call  on  her!  The  reason  for 
this  hesitation  lay  in  the  fact  that  legally,  the 
General's  "  Rachel  "  as  he  called  her,  had  not 
been  free  of  her  first  husband  when  her  second 
took  her  to  wife.  That  this  was  the  fault  of 
neither  but  was  rather  blamable  to  the  loose 
divorce  laws  of  the  time  is  quite  true  but  it  is 
plain,  none  the  less,  as  Sumner  points  out, 
"  that  Jackson  himself  was  to  blame  for  con- 
tracting a  marriage  under  ambiguous  circum- 
stances, and  for  not  protecting  his  wife's  honour 
by  precautions,  such  as  finding  out  the  exact 
terms  of  the  act  of  the  Legislature  of  Virginia. 
Having  put  her  in  a  false  position,  against  which, 
as  a  man  and  a  lawyer,  he  should  have  protected 
her,  he  was  afterwards  led,  by  his  education  and 
the  current  ways  of  thinking  in  the  society 
about  him,  to  try  to  treat  the  defects  of  his 
marriage  certificate  by  shooting  any  man  who 
dared  to  state  the  truth,  that  said  certificate 
was  irregular.  The  circumstances  of  the  mar- 
riage were  such  as  to  provoke  scandal  at  the 
time,  and  this  scandal,  which  in  the  case  of  a 
more  obscure  man  would  have  died  out  during 


IN    THE    EARLY   REPUBLIC    215 

thirty  years  of  honourable  wedlock,  came  up 
over  and  over  again  during  Jackson's  career." 

The  bare  facts  of  the  case  are  that  Jackson, 
when  a  young  man,  had  settled  in  West  Tennes- 
see and  was  taken  to  board  by  Mrs.  Donelson, 
the  mother  of  Mrs.  Lewis  Robards.  Robards 
mistreated  his  wife  and,  on  one  occasion,  Jack- 
son, roused  beyond  self-control  as  he  witnessed 
the  man's  brutality,  said  with  that  straight- 
forwardness and  utter  want  of  tact  which  ever 
marked  his  course,  "If  I  had  such  a  wife  I 
would  not  willingly  bring  a  tear  to  her  beautiful 
eyes."  To  which  Robards  wrathfully  retorted, 
"  Well,  perhaps  it  is  a  mistake,  but  she  is  not 
your  wife."  From  that  time  on  jealousy  mingled 
with  cruelty  in  the  husband's  treatment  and 
things  became  so  bad  that  Mrs.  Robards  was 
urged  by  her  mother  and  her  friends  to  desert 
the  man.  This  she  ultimately  did  by  journeying 
from  Nashville  to  Natchez  under  the  protection 
of  a  little  party  of  gentlemen  of  whom  Jackson 
was  one.  Recent  Indian  disturbances  in  the 
country  through  which  they  were  to  pass  had 
rendered  a  considerable  escort  necessary  and 
Jackson,  because  of  his  strong  right  arm,  had 
been  urged  by  Colonel  Stark,  an  old  friend  of 
the  Done]  sons,  to  be  of  the  party. 

Soon  af  :er  this  the  young  lawyer  learned" that 
Robards  had  applied  for  a  divorce  from  his 
wife,  and,  without  waiting  to  assure  himself 


216  ROMANTIC    DAYS 

that  it  had  been  granted,  he  asked  Mrs.  Donel- 
son  for  permission  to  marry  her  daughter.  :<  Mr. 
Jackson,"  this  good  woman  queried,  "  would 
you  sacrifice  your  life  to  save  my  child's  good 
name?  "  '  Ten  thousand  lives,  madam,  if  I 
had  them,"  the  youth  replied  with  fervor. 
And  he  meant  it,  too.  From  the  time  of  their 
marriage,  in  the  summer  of  1791,  until  his  wife's 
death,  the  year  he  was  made  President,  Jack- 
son showed  himself  always  a  tender  lover  and, 
on  more  than  one  occasion,  faced  death  at  the 
hands  of  an  enemy  because  of  slurring  things 
which  had  been  said  of  the  woman  he  adored. 
He  could  fight  for  her  but  she  could  only  die  for 
him.  The  story  goes  that,  soon  after  the  elec- 
tion, being  in  Nashville  on  a  shopping  expedition, 
she  found  herself  very  weary  and  went  to  the 
principal  inn  of  the  place  to  rest  before  starting 
on  the  twelve-mile  ride  to  the  Hermitage. 
There,  while  reclining  on  a  sofa  in  the  back  parlor, 
she  overheard  through  the  closed  folding-doors 
some  of  the  cruel  slanders  of  her  which  had  been 
current  campaign  gossip,  set  off  by  ugly  sug- 
gestions as  to  the  possibility  of  getting  rid  of 
her  and  sarcastic  references  to  the  load  the  Gen- 
eral would  have  to  carry  if  he  brought  such  a 
wife  to  the  White  House.  All  through  the  long 
drive  home  the  cruel  words  kept  ringing  in  her 
ears  and  when  her  husband  met  her  at  Stone's 
River,  after  his  custom,  he  noticed  that  she 


IN    THE   EARLY   REPUBLIC    217 

looked  worn  and  unhappy.  ' '  What  is  the  matter, 
my  love? "  he  inquired  anxiously,  but  could 
draw  nothing  from  her.  To  her  niece,  however, 
she  confided  what  had  occurred,  adding  that 
she  felt  sure  that  what  the  gossips  had  said  was 
true,  that  she  would  be  of  no  advantage  to  her 
husband  in  the  White  House  and  that  she  did 
not  wish  to  go  there  and  disgrace  him.  Never 
the  same  woman  after  that  day  at  Nashville, 
she  grew  more  and  more  feeble  as  the  time  for 
her  husband's  departure  drew  near,  and  almost 
on  its  eve  she  slipped  quietly  into  the  great 
Beyond. 

Jackson's  grief  was  terrible.  Nor  was  he 
ever  quite  the  same  man  afterwards.  And  his 
wrath  against  gossip  and  gossipers  was  simply 
unbounded.  When  asked  on  his  death-bed 
if  he  forgave  his  enemies,  he  replied,  "  All  ex- 
cept those  who  slandered  my  Rachel  to  death." 

Only  in  the  light  of  his  poignant  sorrow, 
which  he  felt  to  be  distinctly  chargeable  to 
slander,  can  we  at  all  understand  the  extreme 
position  President  Jackson  took  in  the  famous 
affair  of  Mrs.  Eaton  and  the  Cabinet  ladies. 
Mrs.  Eaton,  born  Peggy  O'Neal,  was  the  daugh- 
ter of  a  Washington  tavern-keeper,  at  whose  com- 
fortable old-fashioned  house  many  members  of 
Congress  boarded  while  in  the  Federal  City. 
Major  Eaton,  Senator  from  Tennessee,  had  lived 
at  this  house  for  ten  years  and  had  seen  pretty, 


218  ROMANTIC    DAYS 

saucy  Peggy  grow  up,  become  the  wife  of 
Purser  Timberlake  of  the  United  States  Navy 
and  the  mother  of  two  children.  The  year  be- 
fore Jackson  became  President  Timberlake  had 
committed  suicide  in  a  fit  of  despondency 
induced,  it  was  said,  by  previous  intoxication. 
He  had  been  on  duty  in  the  Mediterranean 
at  the  time  and  Mrs.  Timberlake  had  not  been 
with  him.  Washington  had  continued  to  be  her 
home  after  her  marriage  as  before.  Thus,  when 
the  death  of  her  husband  left  her  free  to  enter- 
tain other  marriage  proposals,  it  was  not  diffi- 
cult for  Major  Eaton,  who  had  long  admired  her 
(and  with  whom,  indeed,  her  name  had  on 
various  occasions  been  suggestively  linked),  to 
ask  her  to  become  his  wife.  They  were  married 
in  January,  1829,  just  a  few  weeks  before  Gen- 
eral Jackson  arrived  at  the  seat  of  government.1 
All  of  which  might  have  been  well  enough  had 
not  Major  Eaton  been  appointed  Secretary  of 
War  and  had  not  President  Jackson  decreed 
that  to  Mrs.  Eaton,  as  to  the  wives  of  other 
Cabinet  members,  all  honor  and  respect  should 
be  accorded.  '  The  spiteful  cats  who  plagued 
the  life  out  of  my  patient  Rachel  shall  not 
scratch  this  brave  little  Peggy!"  he  swore; 
and  he  refused  to  be  moved  by  the  story  that 

"  General  Jackson's  enemies  laugh  and  divert  themselves  with 
the  idea  of  what  a  suitable  lady  in  waiting  Mrs.  Eaton  will  make  to 
Mrs.  Jackson,"  wrote  Mrs.  Smith  at  the  tune. 


IN    THE   EARLY   REPUBLIC    219 

Mrs.  Eaton  had  borne  a  bad  reputation  in 
Washington  from  her  girlhood;  that  she  had 
herself  instructed  the  servants  to  call  her  chil- 
dren Eaton  and  not  Timberlake  on  the  ground 
that  that  was  their  rightful  name;  that  Eaton 
and  Mrs.  Timberlake  had  often  traveled  to- 
gether as  husband  and  wife  etc.  etc.  etc.  Andrew 
Jackson  honestly  considered  this  case  to  be 
parallel  with  his  dear  dead  Rachel's  and  for 
him  that  was  enough. 

Mrs.  Calhoun,  however,  positively  refused  to 
receive  Mrs.  Eaton,  and  thus  the  strained  re- 
lations already  existing  between  the  President 
and  Mr.  Calhoun  were  increased.  The  Sec- 
retary of  State,  Mr.  Van  Buren,  however,  being 
a  widower  and  anxious  to  oblige  his  chief,  ar- 
ranged that  the  fair  Peggy  be  made  guest  of 
honor  at  some  dancing  parties  in  which  he  per- 
suaded two  legation  bachelors  to  join  him  as 
hosts,  and  for  a  little  while  it  looked  as  if  the 
lady  might  be  launched  in  spite  of  everything. 
Imagine,  therefore,  the  consternation  of  these 
complaisant  gentlemen  when  they  beheld  sub- 
stantial Cabinet  dames  float  away  and  vanish 
into  thin  air  upon  the  approach  of  the  radiant 
and  faultlessly  attired  Mrs.  Eaton  while  cotillion 
after  cotillion  dissolved  into  its  original  elements 
when  she  was  given  the  place  at  its  head.  At 
a  very  elegant  ball,  given  by  the  Russian  Min- 
ister, (another  bachelor),  Mrs.  Huygens,  wife 


220  ROMANTIC    DAYS 

of  the  Dutch  Minister,  when  confronted  with 
the  alternative  of  sitting  next  to  Mrs.  Eaton, 
who  had  been  placed  at  head  of  the  supper  table, 
or  leaving  the  room,  chose  the  latter  course  and 
with  great  dignity  withdrew  upon  the  arm  of 
her  husband.  It  was  for  this  offence  that  the 
President  threatened  to  send  the  minister  home. 

He  even  sent  his  beloved  niece,  Mrs.  Donelson, 
home  when  she  refused  to  bend  to  his  will  in 
this  matter!  Though  compelled,  as  mistress 
of  the  White  House,  to  receive  Mrs.  Eaton,  she 
absolutely  refused  to  visit  her.  "  Anything  else, 
uncle,  I  will  do  for  you,"  she  declared,  "  but 
not  that."  '  Then  go  back  to  Tennessee,  my 
dear,"  replied  the  President.  And  back  to 
Tennessee  she  went,  her  husband,  who  had  been 
the  General's  private  secretary,  of  course  going 
with  her.  Happily,  they  were  both  persuaded 
to  return,  after  an  absence  of  six  months,  by 
the  interposition  of  friends. 

Meanwhile  the  lady  who  was  the  cause  of  all 
this  trouble  enjoyed  herself  to  the  utmost, 
frequently  entertaining  her  zealous  champions 
by  enacting  for  them,  in  the  privacy  of  her  home, 
little  scenes  from  this  extraordinary  "  Bataille 
de  Dames."  Finally  her  husband  cut  the  Gor- 
dian  knot  by  resigning  as  a  Cabinet  officer.  The 
President  soon  after  appointed  him  governor 
of  the  recently  acquired  Territory  of  Florida, 
from  which  post  he  was  ere  long  advanced  to  the 


IN    THE   EARLY   REPUBLIC    221 

position  of  Minister  to  Spain.  At  the  court  of 
Madrid  Mrs.  Eaton  spent  the  happiest  years  she 
had  ever  known.  General  Eaton  died  in  1859 
and  his  widow,  who  still  retained  much  of  her 
remarkable  beauty,  eloped  not  long  afterward 
with  an  Italian  adventurer  who  taught  dancing 
at  Marini's  in  Washington.  That  the  lady's 
money  and  jewels  were  the  real  source  of  at- 
traction in  this  case  was  soon  proved  by  the  fact 
that,  after  a  brief  interval,  the  dancing-master 
retired  from  the  scene  accompanied  by  the  pretty 
young  granddaughter  of  his  elderly  consort.1 

Having  now  depicted  President  Jackson  at 
his  worst,  having  shown  him  as  the  protagonist 
of  an  exceedingly  squalid  drama,  a  drama  in 
which  his  native  obstinacy  appears  at  its  very 
crudest,  let  us  turn  and  take  a  glimpse  of  him  at 
his  best  —  at  home  among  the  little  children 
whom  he  so  dearly  loved.  The  time  is  in  the  eve- 
ning after  the  day's  work  is  over  and  the  scene 
"  a  large  parlour,  scantily  furnished,  lighted  from 
above  by  a  chandelier;  a  bright  blazing  fire 
in  the  grate;  around  the  fire  four  or  five  ladies 
sewing,  say  Mrs.  Donelson,  Mrs.  Andrew  Jack- 
son [wife  of  Jackson's  adopted  son],  Mrs.  Ed- 
ward Livingston  and  another  one  or  two;  five 
or  six  children  from  two  to  seven  years  of  age, 

1  Mrs.  Eato^i  then  divorced  the  rascally  foreigner.  She  survived 
until  1879,  obviously  enjoying  herself  to  the  end,  inasmuch  as  her 
last  words  are  said  to  have  been,  "  I  am  not  afraid  to  go  —  but  this 
is  such  a  beauti.ul  world!  " 


222  ROMANTIC    DAYS 

playing  about  the  room,  too,  regardless  of  doc- 
uments and  work-baskets.  At  a  distant  end 
of  the  apartment  the  President,  seated  in  an 
arm-chair,  wearing  a  long  loose  coat,  smoking 
a  long  reed  pipe,  with  a  red  clay  bowl,  exhibiting 
the  combined  dignity  of  a  patriarch,  a  monarch 
and  an  Indian  chief.  A  little  behind  the  Presi- 
dent, Edward  Livingston,  Secretary  of  State, 
reading  to  him,  in  a  low  tone,  a  dispatch  from 
the  French  Minister  for  Foreign  Affairs.  The 
President  listens  intently  yet  with  a  certain 
bland  assurance,  as  though  he  were  saying  to 
himself,  *  Say  you  so,  Monsieur?  We  shall  see 
about  that.'  The  ladies  glance  toward  him  now 
and  then,  with  fond  admiration  expressed  in 
their  countenances.  The  children  are  too  loud 
occasionally  in  their  play.  The  President  in- 
clines his  ear  closer  to  the  Secretary,  and  waves 
his  pipe  absently,  but  with  an  exquisite,  smiling 
tenderness  toward  the  noisy  group,  which,  Mrs. 
Donelson  perceiving,  she  lifts  her  finger,  and 
whispers  admonition.'* 

Mrs.  Trollope,  who  never  gave  a  more  favor- 
able picture  of  any  American  than  she  felt 
absolutely  obliged  to  do,  describes  impressively 
a  visit  made  by  Jackson  to  Cincinnati  soon  after 
his  election  to  the  Presidency.  "  More  than  one 
private  carriage,"  she  says,  "  was  stationed  at 
the  water's  edge  to  await  the  general's  orders, 
but  they  were  dismissed  upon  the  information 


IN    THE    EARLY   REPUBLIC    223 

that  he  would  walk  to  the  hotel.  Upon  receiving 
this  information  the  silent  crowd  divided  itself 
in  a  very  orderly  manner,  leaving  a  space  for 
him  to  walk  through  them.  He  did  so,  uncovered, 
though  the  distance  was  considerable  and  the 
weather  very  cold;  but  he  alone  (with  the  ex- 
ception of  a  few  European  gentlemen  who  were 
present)  was  without  a  hat.1  He  wore  his  gray 
hair  carelessly,  but  not  ungracefully  arranged, 
and  spite  of  his  harsh  gaunt  features,  he  looked 
like  a  gentleman  and  a  soldier.  He  was  in  deep 
mourning  having  very  recently  lost  his  wife;  they 
were  said  to  have  been  very  happy  together.2  " 

1  There  is  considerable  evidence  that  Jackson,  in  spite  of  his  raga- 
muffin boyhood,  had  a  finer  feeling  for  the  etiquette  of  the  hat  than 
most  American  men  of  his  time.    One  of  the  old  slaves  on  his  plan- 
tation told  a  visitor  who  was  making  inquiries  about  the  life  which 
Jackson  there  led  with  his  wife  that  the  General,  after  Mrs.  Jack- 
son's death,  was  wont  to  visit  some  trees  he  and  his  Rachel  had 
planted  together  and,  upon  leaving  them,  "  would  take  off  his  hat, 
just  like  they  was  a  lady!  " 

2  So  happy  that  never  a  day  passed  without  the  General's  remem- 
bering with  thanksgiving  to  God  all  that  she  had  meant  to  him. 
N.  P.  Trist,  who  became  Jackson's  private  secretary  early  in  the 
Presidency,  tells  of  going  to  the  General's  room  one  night  after  he 
had  retired  and  says:    "  I  found  Jackson  sitting  at  a  little  table, 
with  his  wife's  miniature,  a  very  large  one,  before  him  propped  up 
against  some  books  and  between  him  and  the  picture  an  open  book 
which  bore  the  mark  of  long  use.    This  book  was  her  Prayer-Book. 
The  miniature  he  always  wore  next  to  his  heart,  suspended  around 
his  neck  by  a  strong  black  cord.    The  last  thing  he  did  every  night 
before  going  to  rest  was  to  read  in  that  book  with  that  picture  before 
his  eyes."    This  miniature  was  done  in    1819  (when  Mrs.  Jackson 
was  32)  by  Anna  C.  Peale.    The  gown  is  that  which  the  General's 
wife  wore  at  the  ball  given  him  in  New  Orleans  before  his  departure, 
after  the  victory  of  January  8. 


224  ROMANTIC    DAYS 

Plenty  of  other  contemporary  chroniclers,  to 
be  sure,  can  be  found  who  will  present  a  much 
less  pleasing  picture  of  this  extraordinary  man. 
In  those  days  no  domestic  scene  was  too  intimate 
and  no  social  function  too  impressive  to  lack 
its  "  chiel  amang  them  takin'  notes."  And  al- 
ways the  notes  were  printed.  There  were  ardent 
Jackson  sheets  and  virulent  Anti-Jackson  sheets, 
the  Globe  being  the  best  representative  of  the 
former  and  the  Intelligencer  of  the  latter. 
Jefferson  *  had  been  the  godfather  of  this 
"  National  Smoothing-plane,"  as  the  Federalists 
dubbed  it,  and  Samuel  Harrison  Smith,  other- 
wise, "  Silky  Milky  Smith,"  its  first  editor.  The 
obtuse  quality  of  the  paper  and  its  ownership 
may  be  gathered  from  the  fact  that,  when  its 
proprietor,  the  elder  Gales,  sat  to  Charles  King 
to  have  his  portrait  painted,  —  insisting  that 
a  copy  of  the  Intelligencer  be  shown  in  his  hand, 
—  he  quite  failed  to  perceive  that,  by  displaying 
the  words  "  Dry  Goods  "  very  legibly  at  the 
top  of  the  page  as  though  at  the  head  of  the 
advertising  columns,  the  painter  was  taking  his 
revenge ! 

Solid  columns  of  advertising  on  the  front 
pages  and  inside  fulsome  praise  for  all  whose 
favor  was  worth  currying  characterized  this 

1  Yet  it  appears  that  news  in  which  Jefferson  was  deeply  interested 
continued  to  reach  his  South-Land  very  slowly.  It  took  Kentucky 
from  November,  1812,  until  the  following  February  to  learn  of  Madi- 
son's election! 


IN    THE    EARLY   REPUBLIC    225 

paper  during  Jackson's  time.  Notices  of  "  blush- 
ing virgins  "  who  had  been  selling  for  the  benefit 
of  helpless  orphans  "  the  goods  their  own  fair 
fingers  had  made "  abound.  No  wonder  the 
paper  failed  to  satisfy  the  ardent  temperament 
of  Jackson.  He  desired  a  vigorous  and  dominant 
organ  that  should  announce  his  "policies"; 
and  with  this  end  in  view  he  brought  on  from 
Kentucky  Frank  Blair,  who  founded  the  Globe 
and  soon  made  himself  and  his  co-workers  a 
power  in  Washington.  In  its  issue  of  April  20, 
1831,  the  Globe  editorially,  and  quite  frankly, 
may  be  found  declaring  that  "  it  will  be  devoted 
in  the  future  as  it  has  been  hitherto  to  the 
discussion  and  maintenance  of  the  principles 
which  brought  General  Jackson  into  office." 
The  same  issue  states  that  it  will  also  advocate 
a  second  term  for  Jackson  —  this  in  spite  of 
the  fact  that  he  was  then  only  half  through  his 
first  term. 

But  if  the  people  of  Washington  were  in  dead 
earnest  at  this  time  over  their  politics  they  were 
touchingly  na'ive  concerning  their  amusements. 
The  same  issue  of  the  Globe  which  has  been  al- 
ready cited  advertises  a  show  whose  chief 
features  are  the  "  Great  Anaconda  of  Java" 
and  the  "  Boa  Constrictors  of  Ceylon  "  both 
of  which  are  declared  to  be  "  so  docile  that 
the  most  timVd  lady  or  child  may  view  them  with 
safety  and  pleasure."  There  was  very  little 


226  ROMANTIC    DAYS 

else  to  "  view  "  in  the  Washington  of  those  days. 
When  a  Philadelphia  company  stopped  on  its 
way  to  Savannah  there  was  good  drama  in  the 
United  States  Theatre,  the  first  playhouse  of 
the  city,  or  the  Washington  Theatre,  opened 
in  1820.  In  the  latter  house  appeared  in  the 
course  of  the  years  the  elder  Booth,  Macready 
and  Thomas  Apthorpe  Cooper.  It  is  interesting 
to  note,  in  passing,  that  to  Cooper's  Virginius 
his  young  daughter,  who  afterwards  married 
Robert  Tyler  and  during  a  portion  of  the  four- 
teenth administration  presided  over  the  White 
House,  at  this  time  played  Virginia. 

Horse-racing  was  the  chief  amusement,  even 
the  fashionables  joining  with  zest  in  this  diver- 
sion. Mrs.  Seaton  gives  a  lively  description 
of  a  race  she  witnessed  in  October,  1812,  and  Dr. 
Cutler  thus  describes  the  institution  of  the 
race-course  as  he  saw  it  in  1803.  '  The  race- 
ground  is  an  old  field  with  something  of  a  rising 
in  the  centre.  The  race  path  is  made  about 
fifty  feet  wide,  measuring  just  one  mile  from  the 
bench  of  the  judges  round  to  the  stage  again. 
In  the  centre  of  this  circle  a  prodigious  number 
of  booths  are  erected,  which  stand  upon  the 
highest  part  of  the  ground.  Under  them  are 
tables  spread  much  like  the  booths  at  Commence- 
ment (at  Cambridge),  but  on  the  top,  for  they 
are  all  built  of  boards  on  platforms  to  accommo- 
date spectators.  At  the  time  of  the  racing  these 


IN   THE   EARLY   REPUBLIC    227 

are  filled  with  persons  of  all  descriptions.  On 
the  western  side  and  without  the  circle  is  rising 
ground,  where  the  carriages  of  the  most  respect- 
able people  take  their  stand.  These,  if  they  were 
not  all  Democrats,  I  should  call  the  noblesse. 
Their  carriages  are  elegant,  and  their  attendants 
and  servants  numerous.  They  are  from  dif- 
ferent parts  of  the  Southern  and  Middle  states 
and  filled  principally  with  ladies,  and  about 
one  hundred  in  number.  .  .  .  While  the  horses 
were  running  the  whole  ground  within  the  circle 
was  spread  over  with  people  on  horseback 
stretching  round  full  speed  to  different  parts 
of  the  circle  to  see  the  race.  This  was  a  striking 
part  of  the  show,  for  it  was  supposed  there  were 
about  800  on  horseback,  and  many  of  them 
mounted  on  excellent  horses.  There  were  about 
200  carriages  and  between  3000  and  4000  people 
—  black  and  white  and  yellow;  of  all  condi- 
tions from  the  President  of  the  United  States 
to  the  beggar  in  his  rags;  of  all  ages  and  of 
both  sexes,  for  I  should  judge  one-third  were 
females." 

Another  writer,  Warden,  tells  us  that  "  women 
in  the  territory  of  Columbia  have  no  reason  to 
complain  of  the  degradation  to  which  they  are 
exposed  by  the  tyrant  man.  Free  and  innocent, 
they  go  where  they  please,  both  before  and  after 
marriage  and  have  no  need  to  have  recourse 
to  dissimulation  and  cunning  for  their  own  re- 


228  ROMANTIC    DAYS 

pose  and  that  of  their  husbands."  This  same 
writer  also  mentions  a  number  of  "  peculiar 
customs,"  of  which  the  following  are  some: 
"  Both  sexes,  whether  on  horseback  or  on  foot, 
wear  an  umbrella  in  all  seasons;  in  summer,  to 
keep  off  the  sunbeams,  in  winter  as  a  shelter  from 
the  rain  and  snow;  in  spring  and  autumn  to 
intercept  the  dews  of  the  evening.  Persons  of 
all  ranks  canter  their  horses,  which  movement 
fatigues  the  animal,  and  has  an  ungraceful  ap- 
pearance. 

"  Boarders  in  boarding-houses,  or  in  taverns," 
this  entertaining  chronicler  further  records, 
"  sometimes  throw  off  the  coat  during  the  heat 
of  summer;  and  in  winter,  the  shoes,  for  the 
purpose  of  warming  the  feet  at  the  fire  —  cus- 
toms which  the  climate  only  can  excuse." 

In  a  curious  little  book,  Description  of  Eti- 
quette at  Washington  City,  by  E.  Cooley,  M.  D., 
which  appears  to  have  been  published  in 
Philadelphia  in  1830,  there  are  printed  detailed 
rules  for  the  proper  conduct  of  visitors  to  Wash- 
ington! Here  we  learn  that  from  noon  until 
dinner  time  at  four  o'clock  is  the  proper  time 
for  making  morning  calls;  that  ladies,  when  at- 
tending sessions  of  the  Supreme  Court,  go  in, 
"  resting  on  the  left  arm  "  of  the  gentleman 
who  is  acting  as  their  escort;  that  it  is  "  quite 
uncommon  to  see  a  gentleman  and  lady  walk 
out  together  without  her  resting  on  the  gentle- 


IN    THE    EARLY   REPUBLIC    229 

man's  arm  -—  unless  they  are  fresh  arrivals  "; 
and  that  on  Sunday  the  streets  are  left  almost 
entirely  to  the  colored  people,  "  who  dress  them- 
selves very  fine,  male  and  female,  and  walk  out 
arm  in  arm,  in  imitation  of  the  white  belles  and 
beaux."  In  odd  juxtaposition  with  these  coun- 
sels of  frivolity  Dr.  Cooley  prints  the  Declara- 
tion of  Independence  and  the  Constitution  of 
the  United  States. 

Foreign  visitors,  especially  those  of  high 
literary  reputation,  were  immensely  "  lionized  " 
in  the  Washington  of  the  middle  thirties,  even 
such  sensible  women  as  Mrs.  Samuel  Harrison 
Smith  putting  themselves  to  great  trouble  and 
expense  for  the  sake  of  "  doing  the  proper  thing." 
When  Harriet  Martineau  came  to  Washington, 
in  1835,  the  fact  that  she  was  deaf,  very  serious- 
minded  and  the  author  of  books  so  profound 
that  almost  none  of  the  Washington  women  had 
read  them  did  not  prevent  her  from  being  feted 
nearly  to  death.  A  very  amusing  account  of 
Mrs.  Smith's  preliminary  preparations  for  the 
dinner  she  purposed  giving  Miss  Martineau  is 
found  in  a  letter  to  her  sister.1  '  The  day  pre- 
vious," she  writes,  "  I  sent  for  Henry  Orr, 
whom  I  had  always  employed  when  I  had  com- 
pany and  who  is  the  most  experienced  and 
fashionable  waiter  in  the  city.  '  Henry,'  said 
I,  when  he  came,  '  I  am  going  to  have  a  small 

1  The  First  Forty  Years  of  Washington  Society. 


230  ROMANTIC   DAYS 

dinner  party  but,  though  small,  I  wish  it  to  be 
peculiarly  nice,  everything  of  the  best  and  most 
fashionable.'  ' 

Whereupon  Henry  proceeds  to  tell  her  that 
even  for  a  "  small  genteel  dinner  "  thirty  dishes 
of  meat  are  absolutely  necessary.  '  For  side 
dishes,'  quoth  he,  *  you  will  have  a  very  small 
ham,  a  small  turkey,  on  each  side  of  them  par- 
tridges, mutton  chops  or  sweetbreads,  a  macaroni 
pie,  an  oyster  pie  —  '  '  That  will  do,  that  will 
do,  Henry,  now  for  vegetables.'  '  Well,  ma'am, 
stewed  celery,  spinach,  salsify,  cauliflower.'  '  In- 
deed, Henry,  you  must  substitute  potatoes, 
beets,  &c.'  '  Why  ma'am,  they  will  not  be 
genteel  but,  to  be  sure,  if  you  say  so,  it  must  be 
so.  Mrs.  Forsyth,  the  other  day,  would  have 
a  plum  pudding,  she  will  keep  to  old  fashions.' 
'  What,  Henry,  plum  pudding  out  of  fashion?  ' 
*  La,  yes,  ma'am,  all  kinds  of  puddings  and  pies.' 
'  Why,  what  then  must  I  have  at  the  head  and 
foot  of  the  table?  '  '  Forms  of  ice-cream  at 
the  head,  and  a  pyramid  of  anything,  grapes, 
oranges  or  anything  handsome  at  the  foot.' 

"  '  And  the  other  dishes?  '  pursued  Mrs. 
Smith  eagerly.  '  Jellies,  custards,  blanc-mange, 
cakes,  sweetmeats  and  sugar-plums,'  answered 
the  unperturbed  Henry.  '  No  nuts,  raisins, 
figs?  '  *  Oh,  no  ma'am  they  are  quite  vulgar.' ' 
Yet  as  these  two  talk  on  it  develops  that,  the 
day  before,  at  one  of  the  magnificent  dinners 


IN    THE   EARLY   REPUBLIC    231 

given  for  "  the  great  English  lady,"  Henry, 
who  was  waiting  on  table,  had  particularly 
noticed,  with  an  eye  to  future  business,  what  she 
ate  and  found  that  "  a  little  turkey  and  a  mite 
of  ham  "  was  all  —  absolutely  all  —  that  she 
took  —  so  absorbed  were  she  and  Mr.  Clay  in 
their  discussion  of  national  debts !  *  They  tells 
me  ma'am,"  Henry  confides,  "  that  she  is  the 
greatest  writer  in  England.  ...  If  not  another 
besides  her  was  invited  you  ought  to  have  a 
grand  dinner.  ...  I  dare  say,  ma'am,"  he 
tempted,  "  she'll  put  you  in  one  of  her  books,1 
so  you  should  do  your  very  best." 

Yet  eight  dishes  of  meat  were  all  to  which 
Mrs.  Smith  would  consent.  The  next  day, 
when  she  hastened  upstairs  from  the  dining- 
room,  she  found  Miss  Martineau  and  her  com- 
panion, Miss  Jeffries,  combing  their  hair  in 
quite  a  comfortable  and  homely  fashion.  '  You 
see,"  said  the  great  English  writer,  "  we  have 
complied  with  your  request  and  come  sociably 
to  pass  the  day  with  you.  We  have  been  walk- 

1  Miss  Martineau  did,  as  a  matter  of  fact,  put  most  of  her  Ameri- 
can experiences  in  her  book,  Society  in  America.  A  good  many 
mistakes  may  be  found  in  this  work  and  rather  too  much  dogmatism 
as  well.  But  John  Graham  Brooks,  who  has  made  a  special  study 
of  books  which  foreigners  have  written  about  America,  declares  that 
"  at  that  time,  not  two  books  had  been  written  on  the  United  States 
so  full  of  truth,  so  enriched  by  careful  observation  and  stated  with 
more  sobriety."  George  Eliot  once  declared  Miss  Martineau  to 
be  "  the  only  Englishwoman  who  possesses  thoroughly  the  art  of 
writing." 


232  ROMANTIC    DAYS 

ing  all  the  morning,  our  lodgings  were  too  distant 
to  return,  so  we  have  done  as  those  who  have 
no  carriages  do  in  England  when  they  go  to 
pass  a  social  day."  Mrs.  Smith  offered  combs, 
brushes  &c  but  Miss  Martineau,  showing  the 
enormous  pockets  in  her  dress,  said  that  they 
were  provided  with  all  that  was  necessary,  and 
pulled  out  "  nice  little  silk  shoes,  silk  stockings, 
a  scarf  for  her  neck,  little  lace  mits,  a  gold  chain 
and  some  other  jewelry,  and  soon,  without  chang- 
ing her  dress,  was  prettily  equipped  for  dinner  or 
evening  company." 

Even  with  only  eight  dishes  of  meat  the  din- 
ner was  a  success,  too.  Not  being  served  until 
the  then-very-late  hour  of  five  o'clock,  the  cur- 
tains were  drawn  and  the  candles  lighted;  and 
Miss  Martineau,  notwithstanding  the  fact  that 
those  who  wished  to  talk  with  her  had  to  do  so 
through  a  tube,  delighted  them  all  by  her  charm 
and  intelligence.  "Ease  and  animation  per- 
vaded the  whole  of  the  company,"  concludes 
Mrs.  Smith,  happily,  "  we  had  some  delightful 
singing  from  the  young  ladies  —  Scotch  songs 
to  perfection.  It  was  eleven  o'clock  before  the 
party  broke  up!  " 

A  very  interesting,  but  little  understood, 
character  of  the  early  Republican  period  in 
Washington  was  Anne  Roy  all,  publicist  and 
editor.  John  Quincy  Adams  once  bestowed 
upon  Mrs.  Royall  the  title  "  virago-errant  in 


IN    THE   EARLY   REPUBLIC    233 

enchanted  armor  ";  most  books  about  Washing- 
ton refer  to  her,  as  "  that  common  scold,  Anne 
Roy  all."  None  the  less,  the  fact  remains  that 
Mrs.  Roy  all  was  one  of  the  most  vigorous  and 
picturesque  personages  of  her  time,  —  a  woman 
quite  worthy  of  the  scholarly  and  gallant  biog- 
raphy l  recently  written  about  her  by  Sarah 
Harvey  Porter. 

A  pioneer  journalist,  Mrs.  Royall  had  the 
unique  privilege  of  talking  with  every  man  who 
became  President  of  the  United  States  from 
George  Washington  to  Abraham  Lincoln  in- 
clusive. Hence  her  personal  history  is  more 
"  closely  intertwined  with,  and  more  analogous 
to,  the  growth  of  our  Republic  than  that  of 
any  other  woman  of  whom  record  is  preserved." 
It  is,  however,  chiefly  because  Mrs.  Royall  is 
"  very  good  fun  "  that  Miss  Porter,  according 
to  her  own  words,  has  resurrected  her;  and  it  is 
because  the  story  of  Mrs.  Royall  will  help  us 
to  understand  the  times  of  which  she  was  a 
part  that  I  wish  here  to  retrace  her  career. 
Born  in  Maryland  in  1769,  she  lived,  until  she 
was  thirteen,  on  the  Indian -haunted  frontier  of 
Pennsylvania.  At  the  age  of  twenty-eight  she 
met  and  married  Captain  Royall,  many  years 
her  senior,  and  to  him  it  was  that  she  owed  the 
education  which  made  her  able  to  do  a  man's 
work  in  the  world  at  a  time  when  most  women 

1  The  Life  and  Times  of  Anne  Royatt:  Cedar  Rapids,  Iowa,  1909. 


234  ROMANTIC   DAYS 

were  tender,  sheltered  —  and  helpless  —  things. 
"  Captain  Roy  all  constantly  led  Anne  to  the 
contemplation  of  the  principles  of  just  govern- 
ment as  laid  down  by  his  master  Thomas  Jeffer- 
son, and  this  training  in  state  politics,"  declares 
Miss  Porter,  "  was  the  foundation  of  Mrs. 
Roy  all's  newspaper  work  long  afterward." 

Then  her  husband  died  and  Mrs.  Roy  all  lost, 
for  a  time,  the  power  to  find  a  solace  in  books. 
But  she  traveled  much  at  this  period  of  her 
life,  going  from  town  to  town  with  three  slaves 
and  a  courier  and  drinking  in  the  impressions 
which  were  afterwards  to  serve  her  so  well. 
She  was  not  yet  pressed  for  money,  as  she  came 
to  be  when  her  husband's  nephew  broke  the 
will  by  which  she  had  been  left  comfortably 
off.  How  very  individual  a  person  she  had  al- 
ready become  we  see,  however,  from  some  letters 
which,  about  this  time,  she  sent  to  a  young 
lawyer-friend.  "  Novels,"  she  there  declares, 
"  corrupt  the  morals  of  our  females  and  engender 
hardness  of  heart  to  real  distress.  Those  most 
pleased  with  fictitious  distress  have  hearts 
as  hard  as  iron."  Such  was  not  Mrs.  Royall's 
own  heart.  Wherever  she  went  she  extended 
a  helping  hand  to  women  who  needed  her,  be- 
lieving that  nothing  more  calls  for  changing 
in  this  world  than  woman's  inhumanity  to 
woman.  Once  when  her  young  correspondent's 
"  conventional  male  "  views  had  aroused  her 


IN    THE   EARLY   REPUBLIC    235 

resentment  she  wrote,  *  You  ask  whether  I 
would  have  ladies  '  take  such  persons  into  their 
homes,  associate  with  them? '  Yes,  if  they 
repent;  I  would  not  only  take  them  into  my 
house  but  unto  my  bosom.  I  would  wipe  the 
tears  from  their  eyes  —  I  would  soothe  their 
sorrows,  and  support  them  in  the  trying  hour. 
I  would  divide  my  last  morsel  with  them.  For 
those  who  would  not  repent  —  if  they  were 
hungry,  I  would  feed  them;  if  they  were  naked 
I  would  clothe  them;  and  much  more,  if  they 
were  sick  I  would  minister  unto  them;  I  would 
admonish  them  and  I  would  then  have  done. 
What  did  our  Saviour?  I  would  not  revile  them. 
I  would  not  persecute  them."  And  Anne  Roy  all 
lived  up  to  the  womanly  charity  that  she 
preached.  So  consistently  a  Christian  was  she 
that  her  humble  dwelling  in  Washington  served 
almost  continually  as  a  refuge  for  some  homeless, 
fallen  woman !  Yet  she  was  persecuted,  actually 
persecuted  by  the  religious  press  of  her  time! 

Two  reasons  there  were  for  this,  or,  I  may 
better  say,  two  explanations:  Anne  Royall 
believed  in  and  defended  Masonry  —  and  she 
disbelieved  in  and  attacked  canting  Evangel- 
icalism. Hence  we  find  the  New  England  Re- 
ligious Weekly  declaring,  during  the  Jackson 
era,  "  Mistress  Anne  Royall  ...  is  now  ap- 
plying herself  to  her  old  vocation  with  all  the 
virulence  of  a  Meg  Merrilies.  The  old  hag 


236  ROMANTIC    DAYS 

publishes  a  weekly  paper  at  Washington,  ycleped 
the  Paul  Pry,  which  is  a  strong  Jackson  print 
and  contains  all  the  scum,  billingsgate  and  filth 
extant."  Mrs.  Royall,  after  reprinting  this 
unflattering  picture  of  herself  and  her  paper, 
comments  dryly,  "  Wonder  in  what  part  of  the 
Bible  he  found  that?  " 

Not  that  the  lady  herself  treated  too  gently 
those  who  did  not  agree  with  her.  Noble  as 
she  was  in  certain  aspects,  it  is  undeniable  that 
she  often  dipped  her  pen  in  venom.  To  those 
she  did  not  like  she  accorded  words  quite  as 
bitter  as  her  praise  was  fulsome  on  other  oc- 
casions. This  was,  however,  due  in  part  to 
the  very  great  hardships  of  her  life  in  Washing- 
ton. When  she  had  first  arrived  in  the  city  with 
which  her  name  was  for  so  long  to  be  associated 
she  was  a  stranger,  penniless  and  in  bad  health. 
Moreover,  she  was  a  lone  woman  —  and  she 
was  fifty -five  years  old.  She  was  then  preparing 
and  securing  subscriptions  to  her  initial  book, 
Sketches  of  History,  Life  and  Manners  in  the 
United  States,  and  one  of  the  first  calls  she  made 
was  upon  John  Quincy  Adams,  at  this  time 
Secretary  of  State  under  President  Monroe. 
It  is  greatly  to  this  good  man's  credit  that  he 
received  the  little  woman  courteously,  paid  his 
subscription  to  her  book  in  advance,  invited 
her  to  call  on  Mrs.  Adams  at  their  residence 
in  F  Street,  and  promised  to  give  his  earnest 


IN    THE   EARLY   REPUBLIC    237 

support  to  her  claim  for  the  pension  of  a  Rev- 
olutionary officer's  widow.  This  promise  he 
scrupulously  fulfilled,  and  Mrs.  Roy  all  never 
forgot  his  kindness  to  her  that  morning  when 
she  was  an  utter  stranger  in  a  strange  city. 

The  book  for  which  Adams  had  subscribed 
came  out  two  years  later,  and  within  five  years 
after  that,  while  constantly  traveling,  Mrs. 
Royall  issued  no  less  than  eleven  volumes! 
A  contemporary  reviewer  1  thus  characterizes 
her  work:  "  She  marches  on,  speaking  her  mind 
freely,  and  unpacks  her  heart  in  words  of  cen- 
sure or  praise  as  she  feels.  Sometimes  she  lets 
fall  more  truths  than  the  interested  reader  would 
wish  to  hear,  and  at  others  overwhelms  her 
friends  with  a  flattery  still  more  appalling.  At 
any  rate,  hit  or  miss,  the  sentiments  she  gives 
are  undoubtedly  her  own;  nor  will  it  be  denied 
that  she  has  given  some  very  good  outlines  of 
character.  Her  book  is  more  amusing  than  any 
novel  we  have  read  for  years."  Writing  nearly 
a  century  later,  I  can  add  that  her  books  are 
sprightly  in  style  and  hence  make  good  read- 
ing. 

It  was  not,  however,  until  she  had  hit  upon 
the  device  of  compiling  books  whose  chief  feature 
should  be  pen  portraits  of  famous  living  people 
that  Mrs.  Royall  became  a  real  power  in  Wash- 
ington. "  I  wish  to  write  books  that  people 

1  In  The  Boston  Commercial.  , 


238  ROMANTIC    DAYS 

will  read,"  she  said  in  frank  explanation  of  this 
departure,  "  and  I  find  there  is  nothing  like 
throwing  in  plenty  of  spice.  Possibly  a  gentle- 
man may  not  like  his  portrait  (for  which  he  can 
give  no  reason)  yet  twenty  other  gentlemen  may, 
and  may  buy  the  book  for  the  sake  of  the  por- 
trait." But  Mrs.  Royall's  "  spice  "  must  not 
be  confused  with  that  of  modern  sensationalism. 
There  was  nothing  of  the  blackmailer  about  her; 
she  never  pried  into  closets  to  discover  family 
skeletons.  The  names  of  her  newspapers,  Paul 
Pry  and  the  Huntress  were  most  unfortunate, 
for  they  connote  the  kind  of  thing  her  work 
distinctly  was  not.  Her  concern,  as  a  journalist, 
was  that  the  state  be  kept  free  from  the  church ; 
that  Masons  1  receive  credit  for  noble  idealism 
instead  of  abuse;  that  canting  "  Missionaries  " 
be  shown  up  as  the  hypocrites  they  often  were; 
and  that  the  CONSTITUTION  OF  THE 
UNITED  STATES  (the  object  of  her  adoration) 
be  carefully  and  on  all  occasion  safeguarded. 
Of  course,  she  was  in  many  ways  the  child  of 
her  time  and,  like  her  contemporaries,  handled 
without  gloves  those  whom  she  believed  to  be 
enemies  of  the  country.  Thus  it  was  that  she 
came  to  be  indicted  as  a  common  scold.  Only 
narrowly,  indeed,  did  this  doughty  old  woman 
escape  a  ducking  in  the  Potomac  (in  1829) 

1  The  Anti-Masons  were,  at  this  time,  a  powerful  and  well-or- 
ganized political  faction. 


IN    THE   EARLY   REPUBLIC    239 

under  the  provisions  of  an  obsolete  law  then 
exhumed  for  her  benefit! 

That  Anne  Royall  was  a  woman  of  tremendous 
courage  is  proved  by  the  fact  that,  the  very 
next  year  after  being  thus  persecuted,  she  started 
her  first  Washington  paper,  the  Paul  Pry. 
A  four-page  paper,  with  selected  material  and 
advertisements  on  the  two  outside  pages,  this 
sheet,  on  its  inside,  was  devoted  to  editorials 
and  to  political  and  local  news,  all  of  which  was 
deeply  colored  by  Mrs.  Royall's  personal  preju- 
dices. One  article,  in  an  early  issue,  was  against 
"  Old  Maids,"  then  a  term  of  reproach  because 
there  were  at  that  time  in  our  country  plenty 
of  men  to  go  around.  Mrs.  Royall  did  not 
coin  the  phrase  "  race-suicide,"  but  she  was 
probably  the  first  American  to  preach  against 
that  evil  in  print,  Miss  Porter  thinks,  adding 
that  she  was  certainly  the  first  woman  to  do  so. 

For  Andrew  Jackson,  whose  personality  dom- 
inated the  United  States  throughout  most  of 
the  years  during  which  Mrs.  Royall  was  a  news- 
paper editor,  the  Paul  Pry  fought  valiantly  — 
not,  as  might  be  supposed,  because  Jacksonians 
had  bought  up  the  sheet,  but  because  Mrs. 
Royall  warmly  admired  Jackson  the  man.  Miss 
Porter  quotes  a  delightful  story  about  a  dinner 
which  Jackson  and  the  little-old-woman-journal- 
ist together  enjoyed  on  one  occasion.  She  had 
called  in  to  present  one  of  her  books  to  the  Presi- 


240  ROMANTIC    DAYS 

dent  and,  when  she  opened  her  budget,  he  saw 
a  partridge  in  the  feather  which  she  had  bought 
for  her  dinner.  He  invited  her  in  and  the  poor 
old  woman  made  a  hearty  meal  with  him. 

Anne  Royall  was,  indeed,  poor;  but  not  so 
poor  that  she  would  sell  the  silence  of  her  little 
sheet  on  a  question  which  seemed  to  her  vital. 
Once,  when  she  was  hungry  and  cold  and  very 
depleted  as  to  wardrobe,  she  was  offered  two 
thousand  dollars  for  such  silence.  But  she  re- 
fused the  bribe.  "  Some  people  think  we  write 
for  money,"  she  then  said,  "  and  so  we  do,  but 
we  are  not  a  hireling  writer."  So  effectively, 
indeed,  did  she  attack  what  seemed  to  her  evils 
that,  on  more  than  one  occasion,  she  was  sub- 
jected to  physical  violence.  But  this  did  not 
deter  her  from  fighting  for  the  causes  to  which 
she  had  pledged  allegiance.  One  of  these  was 
opposing  a  law  to  stop  the  transportation  of 
mail  on  Sunday,  another  opposition  to  a  threat- 
ened nullification  of  the  tariff  laws.  Mrs. 
Royall  and  that  other  famous  journalist  of 
our  own  day,  Ida  Tarbell,  appear  to  be  the  only 
women  America  has  produced  with  ability 
to  grasp  the  ins  and  outs  of  tariff  legislation! 

Nothing  but  the  necessity  of  "  repairing  our 
clothes "  caused  the  Huntress  and  the  Paul 
Pry  to  skip  an  issue.  "  No  paper  will  be  issued 
from  this  office  this  week,"  we  sometimes  find 
the  editor  announcing.  "  We  really  must  take 


IN    THE   EARLY   REPUBLIC    241 

one  week  once  in  ten  years  to  fix  up  our  ward- 
robe, which  is  getting  shabby!  "  Truly  had 
Anne  Royall  said,  "  You  might  stop  my  breath 
if  you  stop  my  pen."  Even  at  eighty-five  she 
was  putting  out  her  two  little  sheets  on  time, 
confiding  to  her  readers,  in  the  Huntress  of 
June  24,  1854,  that  "  we  are  getting  strong  and 
feel  as  blithe  and  gay  as  ever."  Her  end  was 
near,  however;  for  the  following  month  she 
issued  (July  2)  what  was  to  prove  her  Valedic- 
tory. Here  she  says  editorially :  '  We  trust 
in  Heaven  for  three  things :  First,  that  Members 
may  give  us  the  means  to  pay  for  this  paper  — 
perhaps  three  or  four  cents  a  Member  —  a  few  of 
them  are  behind  hand  in  their  subscriptions,  but 
the  fault  is  not  theirs;  it  was  owing  to  Sally's 
sickness.  Others,  again,  have  paid  us  from  two 
to  six  dollars.  Our  printer  is  a  poor  man.  We 
have  only  thirty -one  cents  in  the  world,  and  for 
the  first  time  since  we  have  resided  in  this  city 
—  thirty -one  years  —  we  were  unable  to  pay  our 
last  month's  rent.  .  .  .  Second,  that  Washington 
may  escape  that  dreadful  scourge,  the  cholera. 
Our  third  prayer  is  [and  these  were  Anne  Roy  all's 
last  printed  words]  that  the  UNION  OF  THESE 
STATES  MAY  BE  ETERNAL." 

Though  Mrs.  Royall's  later  life  falls  outside 
the  period  to  which  this  book  intends,  for  the 
most,  to  limit  itself,  her  entire  career  has  here 
been  included  because  she  really  belongs  in 


242  ROMANTIC    DAYS 

the  early  Republic.  I  regard  her,  indeed,  as 
a  forgotten  heroine  of  that  far-away  time  and 
I  am  glad  to  honor  her,  as  has  Dr.  Ainsworth 
R.  Spofford,1  "  because,  in  a  ruder  age  than  ours, 
she  conquered  adversity  and  ate  her  hard- 
earned  bread  in  the  sweat  of  her  brow." 

1  In  a  paper  on  "  Early  Washington  Journalists." 


CHAPTER   IV 

BALTIMORE 

UP  to  the  time  of  the  Revolution  Baltimore 
increased  very  slowly  in  size.  One  chron- 
icler tells  us  that,  in  1752,  the  settlement 
had  only  twenty-five  houses  and  two  hundred 
inhabitants.  (A  Rooseveltian  family  for  each 
house!)  Even  as  late  as  1773  the  town  had 
no  newspaper,  merchants  sending  their  advertise- 
ments to  Annapolis  and  Philadelphia  until  that 
happy  day  when  William  Goddard,  who  had 
for  some  years  been  a  successful  publisher  in 
Pennsylvania,  removed  to  Maryland  and  issued 
(Friday  morning,  October  20,  1773,)  his  first 
copy  of  the  Maryland  Journal  and  Baltimore 
Advertiser.  At  this  early  period  Fairs  were  held 
at  stated  intervals,  thus  doing  something  to 
promote  exchange;  but  Baltimore  had  not  yet 
become  the  chief  town  of  the  Province  nor  gained 
any  great  commercial  ascendency. 

Delightfully  simple  appear  to  have  been  the 
social  customs  of  the  place  in  these  pre-Revolu- 
tionary  days.  As  it  drew  towards  evening,  the 


244  ROMANTIC    DAYS 

old  diarists  tell  us,  it  was  the  custom  of  the 
family,  "  especially  the  female  part,"  to  dress 
up  neatly  and  sit  on  the  street  porch.  Callers 
went  from  porch  to  porch  in  their  neighborhood 
to  sit  awhile  and  converse.  Merchants  then 
lived  on  the  same  spot  where  they  pursued  their 
business  and  their  wives  and  daughters  very 
often  served  in  the  stores.  The  retail  dry -goods 
business  was  mostly  in  the  hands  of  widows  or 
maiden  ladies.  At  Christmas,  dinners  and  sup- 
pers went  the  round  of  every  social  circle,  and 
they  who  partook  of  the  former  were  also  ex- 
pected to  remain  for  the  latter.  Men  and  women 
then  hired  out  by  the  year  as  servants  in  a  fashion 
which  would  have  delighted  Mrs.  Trollope,1 
the  former  getting  sixteen  to  twenty  pounds 
annually  for  their  labor  and  the  latter  about 
half  these  sums.  Yet  even  out  of  these  small 
wages  people  were  able  to  "  lay  up  money," 
as  the  phrase  goes,  and  so,  when  ready  for  mar- 
riage, could  buy  the  bed,  bedding  and  silver  tea- 
spoons and  the  spinning-wheel  and  "  dresser  >! 
absolutely  essential  to  a  self-respecting  house- 
hold of  that  day.  Where  the  contracting  parties 
were  "  well  off,"  getting  married  involved  a 
large  expenditure  for  entertainment,  however. 
Those  who  came  to  dine  remained  for  tea  and 
supper,  also.  And  for  two  days  punch  was  dealt 
out  in  profusion. 

1  Cf.  Domestic  Manners  of  the  Americans,  p.  61. 


IN   THE   EARLY   REPUBLIC    245 

Happily  cookery  in  general  was  plainer  then 
than  now.  Chocolate  was  served  morning  and 
evening  coffee  as  a  beverage  being  little  used. 
Of  furniture  most  households  had  only  the 
necessary  things  prior  to  the  War  of  Independ- 
ence, sofas,  carpets,  sideboards  and  marble 
mantels  being  practically  unknown.  "  A  white 
floor  sprinkled  with  clean  white  sand,  large 
tables  and  heavy,  high-backed  chairs  of  solid 
walnut  or  mahogany  were  considered  all  that  a 
parlour  needed.  Upstairs  there  would  be  a  show 
parlour,  not  used  except  upon  gala  occasions,  and 
then  not  to  dine  in." 

One  very  curious  custom  which  had  some 
vogue  in  the  Baltimore  of  this  period  was  that 
of  transplanting  teeth.  A  certain  Doctor  Le 
Mayeur,  a  dentist  of  Philadelphia,  had  con- 
ceived the  idea  of  buying  the  front  teeth  of 
those  willing  to  sell  and  placing  the  same  in 
the  mouths  of  those  anxious  to  replace  losses. 
Two  guineas  was  often  paid  the  person  with  a 
tooth  to  trade.  And  several  respectable  ladies 
of  Baltimore  invested  in  these  articles,  gladly 
living  on  milk  and  soft  food  for  two  months  for 
the  sake  of  their  greatly  improved  appearance 
when  the  bough  ten  teeth  had  "grown  in."  One  of 
the  "  Mischianza  "  belles  had  such  teeth,  we  are 
disenchantingly  told.  Which  one,  however, 
deponent  saith  not.  I  fervently  hope  it  was  not 
our  lovely  Peggy  Shippen! 


246  ROMANTIC    DAYS 

While  the  Revolution  was  in  progress,  a 
spirit  of  enterprise  began  to  show  itself  in  Balti- 
more and  during  the  early  days  of  the  Republic  l 
trade  in  the  staple  productions  of  Maryland - 
particularly  tobacco  —  grew  apace.  Organized 
amusements,  too,  now  come  to  the  fore,  the 
dancing  assembly  soon  obtaining  high  vogue. 
The  subscription  here  was  £3  155,  admitting 
"  no  gentleman  under  21  years,  nor  lady  under 
18.  The  supper  consisted  of  tea,  chocolate, 
and  rusk.  Everything  was  conducted  by  rule 
of  six  married  managers,  who  distributed  places 
by  lot,  and  partners  were  engaged  for  the  evening, 
leaving  nothing  to  the  success  of  forwardness 
or  favoritism.  Gentlemen  always  drank  tea 
with  the  parents  of  the  ladies  who  were  their 
partners,  the  day  after  the  assembly  —  a  sure 
means  of  producing  a  more  lasting  acquaintance, 
if  mutually  desirable."  2  Invitations  to  these 
functions  were  printed  on  the  backs  of  playing- 
cards,  blank  cards  not  being  then  obtainable 
in  America.  To  these  balls  guests,  women  as 
well  as  men,  often  rode  in  full  dress  on  horse- 
back. For  prior  to  1800  not  over  half  a  dozen 
four-wheel  carriages  could  be  found  in  the  entire 
city. 

The  theatre-going  spirit  appears  to  have  been 

1  Baltimore  town  became  a  city  December  31,  1796,  with  a  pop- 
ulation of  about  20,000. 

2  Scharfs  Chronicles, 


IN    THE   EARLY   REPUBLIC    247 

active  in  Maryland  even  before  Baltimore  had 
evolved  beyond  the  village  stage.  Annapolis, 
indeed,  claims  the  first  theatre,  in  point  of  time, 
ever  erected  in  the  United  States!  'This," 
we  read,1  *'  was  a  neat  brick  building,  taste- 
fully arranged,  and  competent  to  contain  be- 
tween five  and  six  hundred  persons.  It  was 
built  upon  ground  which  had  been  leased  from 
St.  Ann's  Protestant  Episcopal  Church,  which 
lease  expired  about  the  year  1820,  when  the 
church  took  possession  of  the  theatre."  Thus, 
at  the  time  when  Baltimore  had  only  its  "  25 
houses  and  200  inhabitants,"  the  "  Beaux'  Strat- 
agem "  was  being  performed  (July  13,  1752)  at 
a  theatre  in  nearby  Annapolis!  In  Baltimore 
no  temple  to  the  dramatic  muse  was  erected 
for  another  thirty  years.  The  following  play- 
bill was  then  published  in  the  papers  of  the  day : 

THE  NEW  THEATRE  IN  BALTIMORE 

Will  Open,  This  Evening,  being  the  15th  of  January,  1782, 
With  an  HISTORICAL  TRAGEDY,  called 

KING  RICHARD  III. 

Containing  —  The  Distresses  and  death  of  King  Henry 
VI.  in  the  Tower;  The  inhuman  Murder  of  the  young 
Prince  ;  the  Usurpation  of  the  Throne  by  Richard;  the 
Fall  of  the  Duke  of  Buckingham;  the  landing  of  Rich- 
mond at  Milfords  Haven;  the  Battle  of  Bosworth  Field, 
and  Death  of  Richard,  which  put  an  end  to  the  Conten- 

iScharfs  Chronicles,  p.  113.. 


248  ROMANTIC    DAYS 

tion  between  the  Houses  of  York  and  Lancaster;  with 
many  other  Historical  Passages. 

King  Richard,  by  Mr.  Wall. 

Earl  of  Richmond  ")  By  Gentlemen  for  their  Amuse- 
And  Tressel  >  ment. 

King  Henry,  by  Mr.  Tilyard;  Duke  of  Buckingham, 
by  Mr.  Shakespeare;  Prince  Edward,  by  a  young  Gentle- 
man; Duke  of  York,  by  Miss  Wall;  Lord  Stanley,  Mr. 
Lindsay;  Catesby,  by  Mr.  Killgour;  Ratcliff,  by  Mr. 
Atherton;  Lady  Anne,  by  Mr.  Bartholomew;  Queen 
Elizabeth,  by  Mrs.  Wall. 

An  OCCASIONAL  PROLOGUE  by  MR.  WALL, 

to  which  will  be  added  a  FARCE,  called 

MISS  IN  HER  TEENS 
Or  The  Medley  of  Lovers. 

Boxes:  one  Dollar:    Pit  Five  Shillings;  Galleries  9d. 

Doors  to  be  open  at  Half-past  Four,  and  will  begin  at 
Six  o'clock. 

No  persons  can  be  admitted  without  Tickets,  which 
may  be  had  at  the  Coffee  House  in  Baltimore,  and  at 
Lindlay's  Coffee  House  on  Fells-Point. 

%.*  No  Persons  will  on  any  pretence  be  admitted  behind 
the  Scenes. 


Concerning  this  old  Play  House  John  P. 
Kennedy,  writing l  in  the  middle  of  the  last 
century  of  the  Baltimore  of  long  ago,  has  much 
that  is  delightful  to  say:  "  It  stood  in  Holliday 
Street  on  the  site  afterwards  occupied  by  a 
*  theatre.'  What  a  superb  thinglt  was !  —  speak- 

1  In  Our  Country,  Baltimore,  1864. 


IN    THE   EARLY   REPUBLIC    249 

ing  now  as  my  fancy  imagined  it  then.  It  had 
something  of  the  splendor  of  a  great  barn, 
weather-hoarded,  milk  white,  with  many  win- 
dows, and  to  my  conception,  looked  with  a 
hospitable,  patronizing,  tragi-comic  greeting 
down  upon  the  street.  It  never  occurred  to 
me  to  think  of  it  as  a  piece  of  architecture.  It 
was  something  above  that  —  a  huge  mystical 
Aladdin's  lamp  that  had  a  magic  to  repel  criti- 
cism and  was  filled  with  wonderful  histories. 
There  Blue  Beard  strangled  his  wives  and  hung 
them  on  pegs  in  the  Blue  Chamber;  .  .  .  and 
there  the  Babes  in  the  Wood  went  to  sleep 
under  the  coverlet  provided  for  them  by  the 
charitable  robins  that  swung  down  upon  wires, 

—  which  we  thought  was  even  superior  to  the 
ordinary  manner  of  flying;  and  the  ghost  of 
Gaffer  Thumb  came  up  through  the  floor,  as 
white  as  a  dredge  box  of  flour  could  make  him 

—  much  more  natural  than  any  common  ghost 
we  had  seen.  .  .  .  The  age  now,  is  too  fast  for 
the  old  illusions  and  the  theatre  deals  in  re- 
spectable    swindlers,    burglars    and    improper 
young  ladies  as  more  consonant  with  the  public 
favour  than  our  old  devils,  ghosts  and  assassins, 
which  were  always  in  their  true  colors  and  were 
sure  to  be  severely  punished  when  they  perse- 
cuted innocence. 

"  The  players  were  part  and  parcel  of  the 
play-house  and  therefore  shared  in  the  juvenile 


250  ROMANTIC    DAYS 

admiration  with  which  it  was  regarded.  .  .  . 
The  players  understood  this,  and  therefore  did 
not  allow  themselves  to  grow  too  familiar. 
One  company  served  Baltimore  and  Phila- 
delphia, and  they  had  their  appointed  seasons  — 
a  few  months  or  even  weeks  at  a  time,  —  and 
they  played  only  three  times  a  week.  '  The 
actors  are  coming  hither,  my  lord,'  would  seem 
to  intimate  that  this  was  the  condition  of  things 
at  Elsinore  —  one  company  and  a  periodical 
visit.  In  old  Baltimore,  too,  there  was  universal 
gladness  when  the  word  was  passed  round  — 
*  the  players  are  come.'  It  instantly  became 
everybody's  business  to  give  them  a  good  re- 
ception. .  .  .  When  our  players  came  with  their 
short  seasons,  their  three  nights  in  a  week,  and 
their  single  company  they  were  received  as 
public  benefactors,  and  their  stay  was  a  period 
of  carnival.  The  boxes  were  engaged  for  every 
night.  Families  all  went  together,  young  and 
old.  Smiles  were  on  every  face:  the  town  was 
happy.  The  elders  did  not  frown  on  the  drama, 
the  clergy  levelled  no  cannon  against  it,  the 
critics  were  amiable.  The  chief  actors  were  in- 
vited into  the  best  company,  and  I  believe  their 
personal  merits  entitled  them  to  all  the  esteem 
that  was  felt  for  them." 

Of  the  Kembles,  whom  we  find  being  hos- 
pitably entertained  at  Baltimore  in  1833,  this 
last  statement  is  certainly  true.  What  Fanny 


IN   THE   EARLY   REPUBLIC    251 

Kemble  says  about  the  courtesies  she  received 
here  and  of  the  way  the  town  impressed  her 
is  very  interesting  and  so  worth  while  to  quote 
—  even  if  it  does  take  us  a  little  too  far  ahead  in 
point  of  time.  "  Baltimore,  itself,  as  far  as  I 
have  seen  it,  strikes  me  as  a  large  rambling 
red-brick  village  on  the  outskirts  of  one  of  our 
manufacturing  towns,  Birmingham  or  Manches- 
ter. It  covers  an  immense  extent  of  ground, 
but  there  are  great  gaps  and  vacancies  in  the 
middle  .  .  .  which  at  present  give  it  an  un- 
tidy, unfinished  straggling  appearance. 

*  While  my  father  and  I  were  exploring  about 
together  yesterday,  we  came  to  a  print-shop, 
whose  window  exhibited  an  engraving  of  Reyn- 
olds's  Mrs.  Siddons  as  the  Tragic  Muse,  and 
Lawrence's  picture  of  my  uncle  John  in  Hamlet. 
We  stopped  before  them,  and  my  father  looked 
with  a  good  deal  of  emotion  at  these  beautiful 
representations  of  his  beautiful  kindred,  and 
it  was  a  sort  of  sad  surprise  to  meet  them  in 
this  other  world  where  we  are  wandering,  aliens 
and  strangers.  This  is  the  newest-looking  place 
we  have  yet  visited,  the  youngest  in  appearance 
in  this  young  world;  and  I  have  experienced 
today  a  disagreeable  instance  of  its  immature 
civilization,  or  at  any  rate,  its  small  proficiencies 
in  the  elegances  of  life.  I  wanted  to  ride  but, 
although  a  horse  was  to  be  found,  no  such  thing 
as  a  side-saddle  could  be  procured  at  any  livery- 


252  ROMANTIC    DAYS 

stable  or  saddler's  in  the  town,  so  I  have  been 
obliged  to  give  up  my  projected  exercise.  .  .  . 

'  There  is  a  foreign  —  I  mean  continental  — 
custom  here,  which  is  pleasant.  They  have  a 
table  d'hote  dinner  at  two  o'clock,  and  while  it 
is  going  on  a  very  tolerable  band  plays  all  man- 
ner of  Italian  airs  and  German  waltzes,  and  as 
there  is  a  fine  long  corridor  into  which  my  room- 
door  opens,  with  a  window  at  each  end,  I  have 
a  very  agreeable  promenade,  and  take  my  exer- 
cise to  this  musical  accompaniment.  .  .  .  Our 
windows  are  all  wide  open;  the  heat  is  in- 
tense.1 .  .  . 

"  In  a  week's  time  we  are  going  on  to  Wash- 
ington, where  we  shall  find  dear  Washington 
Irving,  whom  I  think  I  shall  embrace,  for  Eng- 
land's sake  as  well  as  his  own.  We  have  letters 
to  the  President,  to  whom  we  are  to  be  presented, 
and  to  his  rival,  Henry  Clay,  and  to  Daniel 
Webster,  whom  I  care  more  to  know  than 
either  of  the  others.  ...  I  spent  yesterday  with 
some  very  pleasant  people  here,  who  are  like 
old-fashioned  English  folk,  the  Catons,  Lady 
Wellesley's  father  and  mother.  They  are  just 
now  in  deep  mourning  for  Mrs.  Caton's  father, 
the  venerable  Mr.  Carroll,  who  was  upward  of 
ninety-five  years  old  when  he  died,  and  was  the 
last  surviving  signer  of  the  Declaration  of 
Independence.  I  saw  a  lovely  picture  by  Law- 

1  Though  it  was  January  I 


IN    THE    EARLY   REPUBLIC    253 

rence  of  the  eldest  of  the  three  beautiful  sisters, 
the  daughters  of  Mrs.  Caton,  who  have  all 
married  Englishmen  of  rank.  (The  Marchioness 
of  Wellesley,  the  Duchess  of  Leeds,  and  Lady 
Stafford.  The  fashion  of  marrying  in  England 
seems  to  be  traditional  in  this  family.  Miss 
McTavish,  niece  of  these  ladies,  married  Mr. 
Charles  Howard,  son  of  the  Earl  of  Carlisle.) 
The  Baltimore  women  are  celebrated  for  their 
beauty,  and  I  think  they  are  the  prettiest 
creatures  I  have  ever  seen  as  far  as  their  faces 

go." 

Of  the  "  three  beautiful  Catons,"  as  they  were 
called,  Mary  Ann  (the  Marchioness  of  Wellesley) 
had  married  Robert  Patterson,  brother  of  Mrs. 
Jerome  Bonaparte,  for  her  first  husband.  She 
was  the  lady  whom  the  Duke  of  Wellington  long 
admired  and  who,  when  a  widow,  consoled  her- 
self (in  1825)  by  espousing  his  brother,  then 
Viceroy  of  Ireland.  It  was  of  this  famous 
beauty  that  Richard  Lalor  Shiel,  who  saw  her 
as  a  mature  woman  at  a  ball  in  Dublin,  said,  with 
quite  unconscious  condescension,  "  Nobody 
would  have  suspected  that  she  had  not 
originally  belonged  to  the  proud  aristocracy 
to  which  she  had  been  recently  annexed.  She 
had  nothing  of  la  bourgeoise  parvenue.  She  ex- 
ecuted her  courtesies  with  a  remarkable  grace- 
fulness, and  her  stateliness  sat  as  naturally 
upon  her  as  though  she  inherited  it  by  royal 


254  ROMANTIC    DAYS 

descent! "  She  died  at  Hampton  Court  in 
December,  1853. 

Following  Fanny  Kemble  has,  however,  led 
us  too  far  ahead  in  our  story  of  Baltimore. 
For  the  town  was  still  a  pretty  primitive  place 
—  even  if  its  daughters  were  marrying  into  the 
nobility  of  Europe.  Hogs  ran  loose  in  the 
streets  early  in  the  century  and  for  many  years 
later,1  engaged  apparently  in  the  function  of 
the  scavengers. 

For  the  Baltimore  of  this  period,  — "  when 
building  lots  were  for  the  most  part  still  sold 
by  the  acre,  —  "  though  passing  out  of  the  village 
phase,  had  not  yet  left  behind  it  its  village  lim- 
itations and  its  village  peculiarities.  It  had 
its  heroes  and  its  fine  old  gentlemen,  its  ac- 
complished lawyers,  divines,  physicians  and 
public-spirited  merchants.  The  people  all  knew 
them  and  treated  them  with  amiable  deference. 
Society,  too,  had  a  more  aristocratic  air  then  than 
later  —  not  because  the  educated  and  wealthy 
assumed  more,  but  because  the  community  it- 
self had  a  better  appreciation  of  personal  worth, 
and  voluntarily  gave  it  the  healthful  privilege 
of  taking  the  lead  in  the  direction  of  manners 
and  in  the  conducting  of  public  affairs.  This 
was,  perhaps,  the  lingering  characteristic  of 
colonial  life,  which  the  Revolution  had  not 
effaced. 

1  Von  Ra inner. 


IN    THE   EARLY   REPUBLIC    255 

The  avenue  of  a  fine  afternoon  was  a  very 
delightful  promenade  —  in  spite  of  the  pigs,  we 
must  conclude.  For  there  might  be  seen  "  ma- 
trons and  damsels,  some  with  looped  up  skirts, 
some  in  brocade  luxuriantly  displayed  over  hoops, 
with  comely  boddices  supported  by  stays  dis- 
closing perilous  waists,  and  with  sleeves  that 
clung  to  the  arm  as  far  as  the  elbow,  where  they 
were  lost  in  ruffles  that  stood  off  like  the  feathers 
of  the  bantam.  .  .  .  And  then  such  faces!  so 
rosy,  spirited  and  sharp ;  —  with  the  hair  drawn 
over  a  cushion  .  .  .  tight  enough  to  lift  the  eye- 
brows into  a  rounder  curve,  giving  a  pungent 
supercilious  expression  to  the  countenance.  .  .  . 
Then  they  stepped  away  in  such  a  mincing  gait, 
in  shoes  of  many  colours  with  formidable  points 
at  the  toes  and  high  tottering  heels  delicately 
cut  in  wood;  and  in  towering  peaked  hats, 
garnished  with  feathers  that  swayed  aristocrat- 
ically backward  and  forward  at  each  step,  as 
if  they  took  pride  in  the  stately  paces  of  the 
wearer.  In  the  train  of  these  goodly  groups 
came  the  gallants  who  upheld  the  chivalry 
of  the  age;  —  cavaliers  of  the  old  school,  full 
of  starch  and  powder:  most  of  them  the  iron 
gentlemen  of  the  Revolution,  with  leather 
faces.  ...  It  was,  indeed,  a  sight  worth  seeing, 
when  one  of  these  weather-beaten  gallants 
accosted  a  lady  on  the  street.  There  was  a  bow 
which  required  the  whole  width  of  the  pavement, 


256  ROMANTIC   DAYS 

a  scrape  of  the  foot  and  the  cane  thrust  with 
a  flourish  under  the  left  arm  and  projecting 
behind  in  a  parallel  line  with  the  cue.  And  noth- 
ing could  be  more  piquant  than  the  lady's 
return  of  the  salutation,  in  a  curtsey  that  brought 
her,  with  bridled  chin  and  a  most  winning  glance, 
halfway  to  the  ground."  1 

Even  the  seasons,  if  we  may  trust  Mr.  Ken- 
nedy, knew  how  to  comport  themselves  with 
more  dignity  then  than  now.  "  There  were  none 
of  your  soft  Italian  skies  and  puny  affectation 
of  April  in  December.  But  winter  strutted 
in,  like  a. peremptory  bandit  on  the  stage,  as 
one  who  knew  his  power  and  wasn't  to  be  trifled 
with,  and  took  possession  of  sky  and  field  and 
river  in  good  earnest,  flinging  his  snowy  cloak 
upon  the  ground  as  a  challenge  to  all  comers, 
determined  that  it  should  lie  there  until  he 
chose  to  take  it  up  and  continue  his  journey. 
And  the  nights  seemed  to  be  made  on  purpose 
for  frolicks  [sic]  —  they  were  so  bright  and  crisp 
and  so  inviting  to  the  jovial  spirits  of  the  time 
who,  crowded  in  sleighs,  sped  like  laughing 
phantoms  over  every  highway,  echoing  back 
the  halloos  of  boys  that,  at  every  street 
corner,  greeted  them  with  vollies  of  snow-balls. 
And  the  horse-bells,  jangling  the  music  of  rev- 
elry from  many  a  near  and  many  a  distant 
quarter,  told  of  the  universal  mirth  that  fol- 
1  Kennedy. 


IN    THE    EARLY   REPUBLIC  257 

lowed  upon  the  track  of  the  old-fashioned  win- 
ter." Not  at  all  a  bad  place  for  young  people 
to  grow  up  in,  it  would  appear  —  even  if  Eliza- 
beth Patterson  did  attribute  to  the  dulness  of 
her  home  town  her  unfortunate  marriage  with 
the  cad-brother  of  the  great  Napoleon. 

A  good  deal  of  romance  has  been  wasted  on 
the  relations  between  these  two  self-seeking 
young  people  and,  but  for  the  fact  that  this 
marriage  of  an  American  to  a  Bonaparte  is 
a  subject  of  perennial  interest,  it  would  not  be 
worth  while  to  retell  here  this  disappointingly 
sordid  story.  For,  since  the  lady's  letters  have 
come  to  light,  it  has  grown  quite  clear  that  she 
married  Jerome  for  his  name  and  rank  and  that 
he  married  her  because  in  that  way  only  could 
he  possess  her  beautiful  person,  which  had  cap- 
tivated his  easily -kindled  passion.  Young  as 
he  was  he  had  already  had  several  affaires,  and 
Sir  Augustus  Foster  tells  us  l  that,  before  even 
he  met  Elizabeth  Patterson,  Jerome  had  been 
taking  advantage,  in  Washington,  of  the  custom 
by  which  a  young  lady  occasionally  entrusted 
herself  alone,  in  this  country,  to  the  escort  of 
one  whom  she  supposed  to  be  a  gentleman.  In 
a  word,  he  early  demonstrated  the  truth  of  that 
mot,  attributed  to  his  American  wife,  when,  quite 
disenchanted,  she  declared  him:  "  un  Hard  qui 
s'est  glise  par  hazard  entre  deux  Napoleons" 

1  See  Quarterly  Review  of  1841. 


258  ROMANTIC   DAYS 

The  Emperor  himself  she  never  ceased  to  admire 
even  though  he  was  consistently  scornful  of 
her  and  steadfastly  refused  to  receive  her.  Per- 
haps he  feared  that  even  his  resolution  might 
yield  to  the  influence  of  her  great  charm  and 
wonderful  beauty,  beauty  so  striking  that  it 
drew  from  Madame  Recamier  the  compliment, 

'  Vous  etes  la  plus  belle  femme  au  monde,  plus 
belle  meme  que  la  parfaite  Pauline  Borghese." 

"  Mais  $a  est  bien,  impossible,"  was  the  clever 
reply,  "  vue  que  ma  belle  soeur  est  parfaitement 
belle." 

Jerome  Bonaparte  had  always  had  over- 
whelming desire  to  own  beautiful  things.  There 
is  a  story  to  the  effect  that,  when  only  fifteen, 
he  purchased  a  traveling-case  with  silver,  ivory 
and  mother-of-pearl  fittings,  the  cost  of  which 
was  10,000  francs.  The  bill  for  this  trifle  came 
in  due  time  to  Napoleon,  who,  at  dinner-time, 
said  to  his  brother,  "  So,  sir,  it  is  you  who  in- 
dulge in  ten  thousand  franc  travelling-cases." 

'  Yes,"  said  Jerome,  quite  unembarrassed.  "  You 
see  I  am  like  that.  I  only  care  for  beautiful 
things." 

Nor  did  he  in  the  least  scruple  about  the 
means  by  which  he  obtained  what  he  wanted. 
In  the  memoirs  of  Mademoiselle  Cochelet,  a 
schoolfellow  of  Hortense  Beauharnais  under 
Madame  Campan,  is  told  the  tale  of  a  youthful 
trick  once  played  by  Jerome  upon  his  uncle,;  Abbe 


MADAME    JEROME    BONAPARTE. 

From  the  miniature  by  Augustin,  made  in  Paris  in  1814,  now  in 
the  possession  of  Edward  Biddle,  of  Philadelphia. 


IN    THE   EARLY   REPUBLIC    259 

Fesch,  when  he  wanted  pocket-money,  a  tale 
which,  although  pretty  flagrant,  is  said  to  have 
elicited  only  a  laugh  of  appreciation  when  related 
to  the  First  Consul !  Jerome,  it  seems,  had  spent 
all  his  quarter's  pocket-money  in  advance  and 
now  urgently  required  twenty-five  louis.  All 
his  brothers  were  away  except  Napoleon  whom 
he  dared  not  ask;  and  his  mother  had  not  the 
money  in  hand  to  give  him.  So  he  sought  out 
his  uncle  Fesch  whom  he  found  with  a  dinner 
company  to  entertain.  He  was,  however,  in- 
vited to  remain;  which  he  did.  After  dinner 
a  move  was  made  to  the  salon  for  coffee.  Seeing 
his  uncle  enter  an  adjoining  room  Jerome  fol- 
lowed, made  his  request  and  was  refused.  In 
a  trice  the  boy  had  drawn  the  sword  he  was 
wearing  and,  pointing  to  one  of  his  uncle's 
priceless  Van  Dycks  on  the  wall,  he  said, 
*  That  fellow  appears  to  be  laughing  at  me; 
I  must  avenge  myself  upon  him."  The  agitated 
priest  caught  the  lad's  arm  as  he  was  making 
for  the  picture,  Jerome  again  mentioned  the 
twenty-five  louis,  the  uncle  gave  way,  the  sword 
was  sheathed,  and  an  embrace  followed  the 
bargain. 

Thus  it  was  to  a  spoilt  child  possessing  the 
vices  of  a  dissipated  man  that  Elizabeth  Patter- 
son, despite  the  protests  of  her  family,  united  her- 
self in  marriage  on  the  Christmas  Eve  of  1803. 
Their  wedding  notice  may  be  found  in  the  Federal 


260  ROMANTIC   DAYS 

Gazette  of  Tuesday,  December  27.  It  reads  as 
follows :  "  Married,  on  Saturday  evening  last, 
by  the  Reverend  Bishop  Carroll,  Mr.  Jerome 
Bonaparte,  youngest  brother  of  the  First  Consul 
of  the  French  Republic,  to  Miss  Elizabeth 
Patterson,  eldest  daughter  of  William  Patterson, 
Esquire,  of  this  city."  This  was  the  marriage 
to  sustain  which  Pope  Pius  VII  braved  the  anger 
of  the  most  powerful  man  in  Europe.  No  wonder 
all  the  American  Bonapartes  are  devout  Cath- 
olics ! 

That  William  Patterson,  from  the  very  first, 
heartily  disapproved  of  this  marriage  and  did 
everything  in  his  power  to  prevent  it  from  being 
consummated  there  seems  no  shadow  of  doubt. 
Nor  can  one  read  his  letters  to  his  daughter 
without  feeling  that  she  deserved  —  on  account 
of  her  later  conduct  as  well  as  because  of  her 
youthful  indiscretion  —  the  censure  in  her 
father's  will  one  passage  in  which  runs  as 
follows:  "  The  conduct  of  my  daughter,  Betsey, 
has  through  life  been  so  disobedient  that  in  no 
instance  has  she  ever  consulted  my  opinions 
or  feelings;  indeed  she  has  caused  me  more 
anxiety  and  trouble  than  all  my  children  put 
together,  and  her  folly  and  misconduct  have 
occasioned  me  a  train  of  expense  that,  first  and 
last,  has  cost  me  much  money."  In  accordance 
with  which  he  left  Elizabeth  less  than  any  of 
his  other  children.  Some  have  called  his  con- 


IN    THE    EARLY   REPUBLIC    261 

duct  cruel;  it  does  not  so  seem  to  me  after  ex- 
amining as  much  of  the  evidence  on  both  sides 
as  I  have  been  able  to  command. 

There  is  a  good  deal  of  such  evidence,  first 
and  last,  inasmuch  as  the  entire  series  of  English 
and  French  letters  on  this  subject  fell,  early 
in  the  seventies  of  the  last  century,  into  the 
hands  of  a  Philadelphia  publisher  1  who  had 
purchased  them  from  a  Baltimore  paper-maker. 
The  latter  obtained  them  as  waste  paper  directly 
from  Mr.  William  Patterson's  old  warehouse  on 
Gay  Street.  Madame  Bonaparte  was  then  still 
living  and  when  the  proof  sheets  of  the  greater 
part  of  the  book  were  sent  to  her  for  examination 
and  comment  she  replied  that  "  the  publication 
of  the  volume  was  a  matter  of  perfect  indiffer- 
ence to  her!  " 

That  a  woman  of  eighty-seven  was  too  old  to 
be  bothered  with  any  such  decision  as  the  publi- 
cation of  these  letters  involved  would  be  at  once 
conceded  but  for  the  fact  that  Madame  Bona- 
parte, up  to  the  age  of  ninety,  was  in  the  habit 
of  personally  conducting  her  extensive  business 
affairs.  Thus  we  are  forced  to  conclude  that  she 
really  unshed  to  have  all  the  facts  about  her 
extraordinary  marriage  revealed.  Up  to  the 
time  of  her  last  illness,  indeed,  she  cherished 
each  bit  of  finery  associated  with  her  early 
triumphs  and  was  never  weary  of  rehearsing 

1 W.  T.  R.  Saffel. 


262  ROMANTIC   DAYS 

to  her  friends  the  stories  with  which  these  were 
connected.  Nor  did  her  interest  in  European 
politics  ever  disappear  —  though  she  cared 
nothing  at  all  for  American  affairs,  always 
considering  it  her  great  misfortune  that  she 
had  been  born  under  the  Stars  and  Stripes. 
When  negroes  were  admitted  to  Congress 
she  is  said  to  have  caustically  remarked  that 
"  baboons  were  in  the  Senate,  and  monkeys 
in  the  House,  which  was  carrying  republican 
principles  out  to  their  legitimate  ends." 
One  wonders,  after  reading  this,  whether 
it  was  Elizabeth  Patterson's  misfortunes  which 
made  her  bitter  or  her  congenital  acerbity  of 
temper  which  invited  her  misfortunes.  While 
she  was  still  young,  handsome  and  envied,  it 
was  universally  said  of  her,  "  She  charms  by 
her  eyes  and  slays  with  her  tongue." 

Even  caustic  wit,1  however,  is  forgiven  to 
a  girl  of  sufficient  beauty  and  Elizabeth  Pat- 
terson's sharp  tongue  did  not  in  the  least  pre- 
vent her  from  being  the  belle  of  Baltimore  at 
the  time  (1803)  when  Captain  Jerome  Bona- 
parte and  his  suite  arrived  in  the  town  for  a 
short  visit.  These  two,  who  were  long  to  pose 
as  America's  most  romantic  lovers,  encountered 
each  other  for  the  first  time  at  the  Baltimore 

1  Didier  says  truly,  in  the  preface  to  his  Life  and  Letters  of 
Madame  Bonaparte  that  this  girl  appears  to  have  possessed  the 
savoir  faire  of  Chesterfield,  the  cold  cynicism  of  Rochefoucauld  and 
the  practical  economy  of  Franklin! 


IN    THE    EARLY   REPUBLIC    263 

races,  Elizabeth  looking  irresistibly  charming 
in  a  buff  silk  dress,  a  lace  fichu,  and  a  leghorn 
hat  with  pink  tulle  trimmings  and  black  plumes. 
There  is  a  story  that  she  then  became  somehow 
caught  by  a  gold  chain  which  formed  part  of 
the  magnificent  attire  of  the  First  Consul's 
brother  and  that  she  was  thereby  reminded  of 
a  prophecy,  made  to  her  as  a  child,  to  the  effect 
that  she  would  one  day  be  a  great  lady  in  France. 
This  sounds  apocryphal ;  but  so,  for  that  matter, 
do  many  of  the  proven  incidents  in  the  remark- 
able story  of  these  young  lovers.  For  they  be- 
came lovers  almost  at  once  —  following  their 
formal  introduction  at  the  house  of  Honorable 
Samuel  Chase,  one  of  the  Maryland  signers 
of  the  Declaration  of  Independence  and  the 
father-in-law  of  Commodore  Barney,  through 
whom  Jerome  had  come  to  Baltimore.  In  a 
few  weeks  they  were  engaged;  without,  however, 
it  need  scarcely  be  added,  the  consent  of  Mr. 
Patterson.  That  gentleman,  indeed,  foreseeing 
the  great  risk  his  daughter  would  run  in  marry- 
ing the  minor  and  dependent  brother  of  Na- 
poleon, tried,  by  sending  his  daughter  to  Vir- 
ginia, to  break  off  the  intimacy.  But  the  ex- 
periment was  useless.  The  two  were  in  com- 
munication all  the  time,  and  upon  the  lady's 
return  to  Baltimore,  the  last  of  October,  a 
marriage  license  was  at  once  taken  out  by  them. 
In  less  than  a  week  after  this  a  warning  letter 


264  ROMANTIC   DAYS 

reached  the  harassed  father  informing  him  that 
Captain  Bonaparte  had  no  intention  of  sticking 
to  this  bride  but  "  would  be  the  first  to  turn 
your  daughter  off,  and  laugh  at  her  credulity." 
Again,  Mr.  Patterson  tried  to  use  his  authority 
to  the  end  that  the  marriage  be  not  consum- 
mated. But  Miss  Patterson  declared  that  marry 
this  man  she  would,  adding  that  "  she  would 
rather  be  the  wife  of  Jerome  Bonaparte  for  an 
hour  than  the  wife  of  any  other  man  for  life." 
At  least,  this  is  what  she  is  reputed  to  have 
said  and  it  was  obviously  the  appropriate 
speech  for  a  girl  madly  in  love.  From  her  sub- 
sequent letters,  however,  we  must  conclude 
that  what  really  dazzled  her  about  Jerome  was 
his  nearness  to  a  European  kingdom.  Moreover, 
she  longed  unspeakably  to  get  away  from  Balti- 
more which  she  seems  actually  to  have  "  hated 
and  loathed."  1 

So,  less  than  four  months  after  their  first 
meeting,  these  obstinate  young  people  realized 
their  desire,  Mr.  Patterson  having,  however, 
taken  all  possible  precaution  that  the  union 
should  be  indissoluble.  The  religious  ceremony 
was  performed,  as  has  been  said,  by  Bishop, 
afterwards  Archbishop  Carroll,  and  the  marriage 
contract  drawn  up  by  Alexander  J.  Dallas,  who 
was  later  to  be  Secretary  of  the  Treasury. 
Among  those  who  witnessed  the  wedding  were 

1  See  her  letter  to  her  father  of  December  4,  1829. 


IN    THE   EARLY   REPUBLIC    265 

•  • 

M.  Sotin,  the  French  consul  at  Baltimore, 
Alexander  Le  Camus,  then  Jerome's  secretary 
and  afterwards  Minister  of  Foreign  Affairs 
of  the  kingdom  of  Westphalia,  as  well  as  the 
Mayor  of  Baltimore  and  several  other  leading 
citizens.  Jerome's  costume  on  this  festive  oc- 
casion was  sumptuous  in  the  extreme.  His 
coat  was  of  purple  satin,  laced  and  embroidered, 
the  white  satin-lined  skirts  reaching  to  his  heels. 
He  wore  knee-breeches,  his  shoes  had  diamond 
buckles  and  his  hair  was  powdered.  Of  the 
bride's  clothes  one  of  the  guests  is  reported  to 
have  said  that  he  could  have  put  them  all  in 
his  pocket.  Another  witness  relates  in  horror 
that  she  wore  "  only  a  single  garment  under- 
neath! "  Very  likely.  She  probably  considered 
her  Indian  muslin  gown,  embellished  with  old 
lace  and  pearls,  about  all  the  clothing  that  was 
necessary.  For  on  an  occasion  not  long  after- 
ward Mrs.  Washington  is  found  commenting 
rather  scathingly  on  the  extreme  liberality  with 
which  Mrs.  Bonaparte  displays  her  shoulders; 
and  Phoebe  Morris,  in  a  letter  dated  February 
17,  1812,  refers  to  the  fact  that,  at  a  ball,  this 
lovely  matron's  "  sylphic  form  "  was  so  "  thinly 
veiled  as  to  display  all  the  graces  of  a  Venus 
de  Medicis." 

Immediately  following  the  marriage  the  young 
couple  proceeded  to  the  Pattersons'  estate, 
"  Homestead,"  outside  Baltimore,  for  their 


266  ROMANTIC   DAYS 

honeymoon  and,  shortly  afterwards,  they  went 
to  Washington  where  they  were  entertained  by 
the  French  Minister  and  enjoyed  for  several 
weeks  all  the  gayety  of  which  the  national 
capital  was  capable.  Later  they  made  a  long 
tour  to  the  Northern  and  Eastern  States,  and 
in  Philadelphia,  New  York,  Boston,  Albany  and 
elsewhere,  were  tendered  one  continuous  round 
of  hospitality. 

Meanwhile  the  French  Consul-General  had 
sent  Talleyrand  word  that  the  alliance  they  had 
both  been  fearing  was  now  a  reality;  and  Mr. 
Patterson,  having  first  written  (February  10, 
1804)  to  the  Honorable  Robert  R.  Livingston, 
American  Minister  to  France,  that  he  "had 
never  directly  or  indirectly  countenanced  or 
gave  Mr.  Bonaparte  the  smallest  encouragement 
to  address  my  daughter.  .  .  but  finding  that 
the  mutual  attachment  they  had  formed  for 
each  other  was  such  that  nothing  short  of  force 
and  violence  could  prevent  their  union,  had 
consented  to  it  with  much  reluctance  "  now 
dispatched  his  son  Robert  to  France  to  see  what 
could  be  done  towards  reconciling  the  First 
Consul  to  the  marriage.  In  passing  through 
London  on  his  way  to  Paris  young  Mr.  Patter- 
son obtained  letters  of  introduction  from  Miss 
Monroe,  daughter  of  James  Monroe,  to  Joseph- 
ine's daughter  with  whom  the  former  had  es- 
tablished a  lasting  friendship  while  at  Madame 


IN    THE   EARLY   REPUBLIC    267 

Campan's  school.  These  and  Madame  Campan's 
own  intercessions  —  she  was  on  very  intimate 
terms  with  the  family  of  the  First  Consul  be- 
sides being  interested  in  Americans  from  the 
fact  that  her  brother  had  married  the  daughter 
of  De  Witt  Clinton  —  were  expected  to  be  of 
considerable  service  in  softening  the  Great 
Man's  wrath. 

But  it  was  all  of  no  avail.  Napoleon,  from 
the  very  first,  was  as  adamant  toward  Jerome 
in  this  matter  of  his  marriage,  treating  him  as 
a  naughty  child,  —  who  was  also  a  disobedient 
subject,  —  and  steadfastly  refusing  to  recognize 
either  the  legality  of  the  union  or  the  rights 
of  the  beautiful  young  wife.  Lucien  Bonaparte, 
however,  heartily  assured  Robert  Patterson 
that  the  whole  family,  with  the  exception  of  the 
Consul,  highly  approved  the  match,  and  he  gave 
Jerome  the  excellent  advice  that  he  become  an 
American  citizen  and  proceed  to  carve  out  his 
own  fortune  in  the  land  where  he  had  found  his 
wife.  But  this  counsel  suited  Elizabeth  as 
little  as  it  suited  her  husband ;  I  fancy  that  she 
even  preferred  to  such  "  mistaken  kindness  " 
the  uncompromising  cruelty  of  Napoleon's 
fiat,  interpreted  by  the  French  Minister  of 
Marine  thus:  "Jerome  has  received  orders, 
in  his  capacity  of  lieutenant  of  the  fleet,  to  come 
back  to  France  by  the  first  French  frigate  re- 
turning thither;  and  the  execution  of  this 


268  ROMANTIC   DAYS 

order,  on  which  the  First  Consul  insists  in  the 
most  positive  manner,  can  alone  regain  him  his 
affection.  But  what  the  First  Consul  has  pre- 
scribed for  me,  above  everything,  is  to  order 
you  to  prohibit  all  captains  of  French  vessels 
from  receiving  on  board  the  young  person  to 
whom  the  Citizen  Jerome  has  connected  himself, 
it  being  his  intention  that  she  shall  by  no  means 
come  into  France,  and  his  will  that,  should  she 
arrive,  she  be  suffered  not  to  land,  but  be  sent 
immediately  back  to  the  United  States." 

This,  then,  was  the  dampening  news  from 
France  that  reached  the  young  couple  in  the 
summer  of  1804  while  they  were  enjoying  to 
the  full  the  brilliant  social  life  of  New  York. 
There  arrived  also  a  document  which  declared 
that  "  by  an  act  of  llth  Ventose,  all  the  civil 
officers  of  the  Empire  are  prohibited  from  re- 
ceiving on  their  registers  the  transcription  of 
the  act  of  celebration  of  a  pretended  marriage 
that  Jerome  Bonaparte  has  contracted  in  a 
foreign  country  during  the  age  of  minority, 
without  the  consent  of  his  mother,  and  without 
previous  publication  in  the  place  of  his  nativity.'* 
Jerome  must  have  begun  to  fear,  as  he  read 
this,  that,  in  this  connection  as  in  many  later 
ones,  protests  would  have  absolutely  no  strength 
against  his  brother's  iron  will. 

Yet  he  still  put  on  a  bold  front,  declaring  that 
he  would  soon  sail  for  France  and  would  take 


IN   THE   EARLY   REPUBLIC    269 

with  him  his  fair  young  wife  whom  Napoleon 
had  only  to  see  to  accept  as  a  member  of  the 
family.  A  start  was  made,  in  a  ship  sailing  from 
Philadelphia  for  Cadiz  towards  the  end  of  Octo- 
ber. But  a  dangerous  gale  overtook  their  craft, 
and,  having  narrowly  escaped  with  their  lives, 
they  again  found  themselves  in  America.  The 
"  proper  thing  "  would  have  been  for  Madame 
Bonaparte  to  be  overwhelmed  with  thanksgiving 
at  being  thus  rescued  from  a  watery  grave. 
But,  instead,  she  blithely  made  an  excellent  meal 
of  roast  goose  and  apple  sauce,  at  the  home  of 
the  people  who  took  her  in,  running  back  and 
forth  at  intervals,  from  the  house  to  the  yard, 
to  see  how  well  her  handsome  clothes  on  the 
line  were  drying  after  the  shipwreck!  *  This 
was  the  last  attempt  of  the  young  Bonapartes 
to  sail  for  Europe  that  year. 

In  the  spring  of  the  following  year/ however, 
the  voyage  was  actually  accomplished  in  one  of 
Mr.  Patterson's  own  vessels,  the  Erin,  which  he 
was  glad  to  provide  for  the  purpose.  With  the 
party  went  William  Patterson,  Junior,  a  brother 
of  Elizabeth;  Le  Camus,  Jerome's  secretary, 
and  Garnier,  Jerome's  doctor,  of  whom  the  young 
wife,  who  was  expecting  a  child,  might  have 
sore  need  ere  the  journey  ended.  The  passage 
was  quite  uneventful,  though,  as  we  learn  by 

1 A  very  elegant  wadded  pelisse,  which  she  had  on  when  thrown 
into  the  water,  very  nearly  proved  her  destruction. 


270  ROMANTIC   DAYS 

this  letter,  sent  back  to  Mr.  Patterson,  in  Je- 
rome's own  hand  and  with  his  own  English. 

"  ON  BOARD  OF  THE  ERIN, 
the  2d  April   1805 

"  I  have  the  pleasure  of  writing  to  you,  dear 
father,  from  the  arbous  of  Lisbon  where  we 
arrive  this  morning  the  21st  day  of  our  departure 
from  Cape  Henry.  We  shall  be  obliged  to  per- 
form a  quarantine  of  16  days,  but  I  have  al- 
ready found  the  way  for  not  doing  it,  and  in 
three  days  I  shall  be  ready  to  proceed  on  my 
long,  monotonne  and  fatiging  journey.  My 
feelings  for  you,  my  second  mother,  and  all 
your  good  family  are  very  well  known  to  you, 
and  it  is  easier  for  me  to  feel  them  than  to  ex- 
press them.  I  have  left  one  of  my  family  and 
will  be  soon  among  the  other,  But  the  pleasure 
and  satisfaction  of  being  in  my  first  will  never 
make  me  forgot  my  second. 

"  My  dear  wife  has  fortunately  supported 
the  fatigues  of  our  voyage  perfectly  well.  She 
has  been  very  sick,  but  you  know  as  well  as 
anybody  that  seasick  never  has  killed  nobody. 

"  I  pray  you,  dear  father,  to  do  not  forget 
me  near  my  friends,  and  particularly  General 
and  Mrs.  Smith  and  family,  Nancy,  Dallas, 
and  Dr.  McHenry,  and  remember  that  you 
solemnly  promised  me  to  never  show  my  letters, 
and  to  burn  them  after  having  read  it.  B  " 


IN   THE   EARLY   REPUBLIC    271 

This  letter,  Saffell  assures  us,  was  in  the  waste 
paper  package  already  mentioned,  endorsed, 
in  the  handwriting  of  Madame  Bonaparte's 
father,  "  Bonaparte,  Lisbon,  April  1805  —  re- 
ceived 15th  May."  Mr.  Patterson  ,had  the 
precise  habits  of  a  man  of  business.  There  is  no 
reason  to  believe  that  he  ever  showed  the  letter; 
but  he  certainly  did  not  burn  it.  As  indeed  it 
would  have  been  very  wrong  for  him  to  do  in 
dealing  with  any  son-in-law  in  Jerome  Bona- 
parte's situation! 

If  immediate  proof  of  Napoleon's  despotic 
power  was  needed  by  the  travelers  it  was 
found  in  the  French  guard  he  at  once  caused  to 
be  placed  around  the  Erin  and  in  the  tone  his 
ambassador  was  instructed  to  take  towards 
Jerome's  wife.  This  emissary  pointedly  in- 
quired what  he  could  do  for  Miss  Patterson. 
To  which  the  Baltimore  beauty  replied  with 
spirit,  "  Tell  your  master  that  Madame  Bona- 
parte is  ambitious,  and  demands  her  rights  as 
a  member  of  the  imperial  family."  But  de- 
manding rights  was  not  to  obtain  them  — 
from  Napoleon.  Nor  was  the  boy-husband's 
mother  allowed  to  intercede  for  him,  as  she 
would  have  been  glad  to  do.  To  her  the  Emperor 
explained  himself  (in  a  letter  written  from  the 
neighborhood  of  Turin,  on  April  22)  in  a  way 
which,  when  conveyed  to  Jerome,  left  no  doubt 
whatever  of  his  brother's  inflexibility:  "  Mr. 


272  ROMANTIC   DAYS 

Jerome  Bonaparte,"  this  epistle  runs,  "  has 
reached  Lisbon  with  the  woman  with  whom  he 
is  living.  I  have  sent  orders  to  this  prodigal 
son  to  proceed  to  Milan  by  way  of  Perpignan, 
Toulouse,  Grenoble,  and  Turin.  I  have  let  him 
know  that,  if  he  diverges  from  this  route,  he 
will  be  arrested.  Miss  Patterson,  who  is  living 
with  him,  has  taken  the  precaution  of  bringing 
her  brother  with  her.  I  have  given  the  order 
that  she  is  to  be  sent  back  to  America.  If 
she  evades  the  orders  which  I  have  given,  and 
comes  to  Bordeaux  or  Paris,  she  will  be  taken 
back  to  Amsterdam,  there  to  be  put  on  board 
the  first  American  vessel.  I  shall  treat  this 
young  man  severely  if,  at  the  only  interview 
which  I  shall  grant  him,  he  shows  himself 
unworthy  of  the  name  which  he  bears,  and  per- 
sists in  wishing  to  continue  his  intrigue.  If  he 
is  not  prepared  to  wash  out  the  dishonour  which 
he  has  brought  on  my  name  by  abandoning  his 
flag  for  a  wretched  woman,  I  shall  give  him  up 
forever  and  perhaps  make  an  example  to  teach 
young  soldiers  the  sacredness  of  their  duties, 
and  the  enormity  of  their  crime  when  they 
desert  their  flag  for  a  woman.  Write  to  him  on 
the  supposition  that  he  is  going  to  Milan;  tell 
him  that  I  have  been  a  father  to  him,  that  his 
duty  towards  me  is  sacred,  and  that  he  has  no 
longer  any  salvation  except  in  following  my  in- 
structions. Speak  to  his  sisters  that  they  may 


THE   EARLY   REPUBLIC    273 

write  to  him  also;  for  when  I  have  pronounced 
his  sentence  I  shall  be  inflexible,  and  his  life 
will  be  blasted  forever."  1 

Poor  Madame  Mere,  who  had  consented  to 
the  marriage,  —  if  only  after  the  event,  —  must 
have  been  sorely  perplexed,  upon  receiving  this 
brutal  letter,  as  to  her  mother's  duty!  But 
she  appears  to  have  obediently  counselled  Je- 
rome to  hasten  to  meet  his  brother.  So,  bidding 
a  tender  farewell  to  Elizabeth,  the  harassed 
young  husband  set  off  for  Italy  through  Spain, 
not  yet  without  hope,  it  would  appear,  that  he 
would  be  able  to  bend  the  imperial  will  to  his 
desire  by  disclosing  the  astonishing  beauty  of 
the  girl  whom  he  had  made  his  wife.  It  chanced 
that,  on  his  way,  he  met  Junot,  who  had  just 
been  appointed  Minister  to  Portugal;  to  him 
and  to  his  wife,  who  has  preserved  the  incident 
for  us,  he  exhibited  a  miniature  which  showed 
Madame  Jerome  in  all  her  exquisite  loveliness 
and  declared  solemnly  that  he  was  strong  in 
the  justice  of  his  cause  and  was  firmly  resolved 
never  to  abandon  this  wife  he  dearly  loved  and 
in  whom  "  are  united  all  the  qualities  that  can 
render  a  woman  enchanting."  With  the  young 
husband  as  he  rode  off,  firm  in  this  noble  senti- 
ment, was  his  friend  and  secretary,  Le  Camus, 
who  at  the  time  impressed  Madame  Junot  favor- 
ably, though  she  later  came  to  feel  that  he  took 

1  Lecestre,  Lettres  Inediles  de  Napoleon,  I.,  p.  47, 


274  ROMANTIC   DAYS 

Napoleon's  side  and  helped  to  persuade  Jerome 
that  his  wife  must  be  abandoned.  Le  Camus 
knew  on  which  side  his  bread  was  buttered. 

From  various  points  along  the  way  the  "  prod- 
igal son  "  dispatched  to  his  hard-hearted  brother 
letters  begging  for  an  opportunity  to  explain 
his  conduct.  But  the  first  word  he  received  in 
reply  was  this,  which  surely  did  not  tend  to 
raise  in  him  any  false  hopes  of  forgiveness. 
"  I  have  received  your  letter  of  this  morning. 
There  are  no  faults  which  you  have  committed 
which  may  not  be  effaced  in  my  eyes  by  a  sin- 
cere repentance.  Your  marriage  is  null  both 
in  a  religious  and  legal  point  of  view.  I  will 
never  acknowledge  it.  Write  to  Miss  Patterson 
to  return  to  the  United  States,  and  tell  her  it 
is  not  possible  to  arrange  things  differently. 
I  will  grant  her  a  pension  of  60,000  francs  during 
her  life,  on  condition  that,  in  no  event  she  shall 
bear  my  name,1  to  which  she  has  no  right, 
her  marriage  being  non-existent.  You  yourself 
must  make  her  understand  that  you  have  not 
been  and  are  not  able  to  change  the  nature  of 
things.  Your  marriage  being  thus  annulled 
of  your  own  free  will,[!]  I  will  restore  to  you  my 
friendship.  ..." 

When  Jerome  was  at  length  admitted  to 
the  presence  of  his  brother,  Napoleon  thus  ad- 

1  Yet  he  always  allowed  her  to  sign  her  receipts  for  this  money 
"  Elizabeth  Bonaparte  "! 


IN    THE   EARLY   REPUBLIC    275 

dressed  him:  "  So,  sir,  you  are  the  first  of  the 
family  who  has  shamefully  abandoned  his  post. 
It  will  require  many  splendid  actions  to  wipe 
off  that  stain  from  your  reputation.  As  to  your 
love  affair  with  your  little  girl,  I  pay  no  regard  to 
it."  Napoleon  was,  however,  soon  to  find  out 
that  this  marriage  could  not  be  so  easily  set 
aside.  Though  he  had  now  been  crowned 
Emperor,  he  had  been  only  First  Consul  of 
France  at  the  time  of  the  marriage  and  so  could 
have  no  control  over  the  members  of  his  family. 
Jerome's  mother  and  his  eldest  brother,  Joseph, 
were  the  only  persons  whose  consent  was  neces- 
sary and  they  concurred  in  approving  the  mar- 
riage, which  had  been  celebrated  by  the  highest 
dignitary  of  the  Roman  Catholic  Church  in 
America  in  accordance  with  the  prescribed  rites 
of  that  body.  —  But  of  this  more  anon. 

What,  meanwhile,  of  the  beautiful  young 
wife  who,  a  stranger  in  a  strange  land,  felt  her- 
self forced  to  sail  for  Amsterdam  because  ex- 
cluded by  Napoleon  from  every  port  over  which 
he  had  control?  Even  at  the  Dutch  city,  as  the 
event  proved,  she  was  not  to  be  admitted. 
Her  ship  was  obliged  to  turn  back  to  Dover 
where,  on  May  19,  she  was  finally  allowed  to 
disembark.  And  at  Camberwell,  near  London, 
July  7,  1805,  her  first  and  only  child  was  born. 
He  was  named  Jerome  Napoleon  Bonaparte 
after  the  husband  from  whom  she  believed  her- 


276  ROMANTIC   DAYS 

self  only  temporarily  parted.  Five  weeks  later, 
in  a  letter  to  her  father,  she  says  of  this  husband : 
'  We  imagine  that  Bonaparte  is  in  some  measure 
a  prisoner,  and  we  must  wait  patiently  to  know 
how  he  will  act;  in  the  meantime  it  would  be 
extremely  imprudent  for  me  to  go  out  or  see 
anyone,  and  I  must  avoid  getting  into  any 
scrapes  which  I  might  be  led  into  from  thinking 
he  would  desert  me.  No  matter  what  I  think, 
it  is  unjust  to  condemn  until  we  have  some  cer- 
tainty greater  than  at  present,  and  my  conduct 
shall  be  such  as  if  I  had  a  perfect  reliance  on 
him.  I  think  that  by  returning  to  the  United 
States,  it  would  seem  as  if  I  had  yielded  the 
point,  and  by  next  spring  everything  will  be 
decided." 

None  the  less,  mother  and  child  sailed  back 
to  Baltimore,  three  months  after  this  letter  was 
written;  and  they  were  there,  occupying  a 
position  detestable  above  all  others  to  one  of 
her  pride,  —  that  of  an  injured  heroine  of  ro- 
mance—  when  Napoleon  tried  (May,  1805) 
unsuccessfully  to  bribe  1  Pope  Pius  VII  to 
annul  Jerome's  marriage.  In  his  letter  to  the 
Pope  Napoleon  made  no  attempt  to  state  cor- 
rectly the  facts  of  the  marriage.  His  brother, 
he  declared,  had  been  united  to  a  "  Protestant 
young  woman,"  after  only  a  month's  residence 

JWith  the  letter  went  a  magnificent  gold  tiara  studded  with 
diamonds  and  rubies. 


IN    THE   EARLY   REPUBLIC    277 

in  the  United  States,  by  "  a  Spanish  priest 
who  had  so  far  forgotten  his  duties  as  to  pro- 
nounce the  benediction."  He  added  that  he 
could  easily  have  the  union  broken  in  Paris  but 
preferred  that  it  should  be  annulled  in  Rome 
"  on  account  of  the  example  to  sovereign  fam- 
ilies marrying  Protestants."  Cardinal  Fesch, 
as  well  as  Napoleon,  appears  to  have  believed 
that  the  Pope  would  readily  enough  grant 
Napoleon's  request.  But  this  the  Pontiff  quite 
positively  declined  to  do.  He  pierced  through 
the  network  of  misrepresentations  with  which 
Napoleon  had  endeavored  to  confuse  the  issues 
of  the  case,  examined  all  the  precedents  which 
might  be  held  to  have  a  bearing  on  the  matter, 
and  then  declared  that,  glad  as  he  would  be  to 
oblige  Napoleon,  he  found  no  reasons  whatever 
for  annulling  a  marriage  duly  performed  by 
the  Bishop  of  Baltimore.  Marriages  between 
Protestants  and  Catholics,  although  disap- 
proved of  by  the  Church,  are  nevertheless  ac- 
knowledged as  valid,  he  pointed  out. 

Napoleon's  own  Council  of  State  proved  much 
more  complaisant,  and,  in  October  of  the  fol- 
lowing year,  the  American  marriage  was  de- 
clared null  ecclesiastically  in  Paris.  In  the 
August  of  1807  Jerome's  flabby  hand  was 
bestowed  upon  Sophia-Dorothea-Frederika- 
Catherine  of  Wlirtemberg.  None  the  less, 
this  astonishing  deserter  continued  at  intervals 


278  ROMANTIC   DAYS 

to  write  to  his  American  wife!  After  leaving 
her  at  Lisbon,  in  April,  1805,  he  had  addressed 
to  her  frequent  and  tender  letters,  repeatedly 
declaring  that  she  was  the  sole  object  of  his 
love  and  that  for  her  he  would  be  willing  to 
give  up  even  his  life.  Up  to  the  year  1812,  in- 
deed, he  continued  to  write  to  her,  though  after 
he  had  been  declared  free  of  his  marriage  his  ex- 
pressed interest  was  in  his  son  rather  than  in 
his  son's  mother.  In  1808  he  attempted,  with 
Napoleon's  consent,  to  bring  the  young  Jerome 
Napoleon  to  Westphalia.  Naturally,  Elizabeth 
and  her  family  flatly  refused  this  proposition. 
Which  seems  only  to  have  whetted  the  King  of 
Westphalia's  desire  to  re-establish  connections 
with  the  American  Bonapartes  for,  in  November 
of  that  same  year,  he  actually  wrote  to  offer 
the  woman  he  had  so  heartlessly  abandoned  the 
principality  of  Smalkalden,  in  Westphalia,  with 
a  pension  of  200,000  francs  a  year!  She  replied 
that,  though  Westphalia  was  a  large  kingdom 
it  was  not  large  enough  for  two  queens.  More- 
over, she  preferred  being  sheltered  under  the 
wing  of  an  eagle,  she  said,  to  hanging  from  the 
bill  of  a  goose.  The  eagle  was,  of  course,  Na- 
poleon, who,  up  to  the  date  of  his  Fall,  kept  his 
promise  of  allowing  her  60,000  francs  a  year. 
This  last  rebuff  kept  Jerome  silent  for  three 
years.  Then  he  wrote  to  her  as  follows :  —  "  My 
dear  Elisa,  what  a  long  time  it  is  since  I  have 


IN   THE   EARLY  REPUBLIC    279 

received  any  news  of  you  and  of  my  son !  In  the 
whole  world  you  could  never  find  a  better  or 
more  tender  friend  than  me.  I  have  many 
things  to  write  to  you;  but  as  I  can  but  fear 
that  this  letter  may  be  intercepted,  I  limit  my- 
self to  giving  you  news  of  myself  and  asking  you 
for  news  of  you  and  my  son.  Be  assured  that 
all  will  be  arranged  sooner  or  later.  The  .Em- 
peror is  certainly  the  best  as  he  is  the  greatest 
of  men."  This  letter  was  signed  "  Votre  affec- 
tionne  et  bon  ami  Jerome-Napoleon." 

And  she  really  believed  him!  In  spite  of  her 
contempt  for  him  and  in  spite  of  her  distrust  of 
his  honor  she  all  her  life  long  hugged  the  delusion 
that  Jerome  really  loved  her.  Yet,  characteris- 
tically, the  year  after  Napoleon's  downfall,  she 
forestalled  any  attempt  this  "  bon  ami  "  might 
make  to  claim  a  share  in  her  fortune  by  divor- 
cing him  under  a  special  act  of  the  legislature  of 
Maryland. 

And  now,  to  educate  her  child  "  as  his  rank 
demanded  "  and  to  give  herself  the  pleasures 
of  that  society  to  which  she  felt  she  rightly 
belonged,  Elizabeth  Patterson  again  took  up 
life  in  Europe.  "  Although  you  have  always 
taken  me  for  a  fool,"  she  writes  her  father, 
"  that,  I  assure  you,  is  not  my  character  here. 
.  .  .  Nature  never  intended  me  for  obscurity." 
The  pleasures  of  Paris,  for  which  she  had  so 
long  sighed  in  vain,  were  now  enjoyed  by  her 


280  ROMANTIC   DAYS 

to  the  full.  For,  though  the  Empire  had  fallen, 
Paris  was  very  gay  and  very  brilliant  and  upon 
this  American  woman,  whose  sufferings  had 
made  her  a  heroine,  the  sentimental  Frenchmen 
proceeded  to  pour  out  a  wealth  of  adulation. 
Louis  XVIII  expressed  a  wish  to  see  her  at 
Court  but  she  declined  to  be  presented,  saying 
that,  as  she  had  received  a  pension  from  the 
Emperor,  she  would  not  appear  at  the  Court  of 
his  successor,  ingratitude  not  being  one  of  her 
vices. 

With  Talleyrand  praising  her  wit,  Madame  de 
Stael  extolling  her  beauty,  and  all  the  leading 
men  and  women  of  the  day  1  cultivating  her 
acquaintance,  Madame  Bonaparte  was  at  the 
height  of  her  career.  To  her  father,  who 
continued  to  be  troubled  by  her  disdain  of 
home-pleasure,  she  wrote,  "  I  am  not  half 
so  foolish  as  you  imagine  or  I  should,  per- 
haps, have  been  more  contented.  There  is 
but  one  single  chance  of  securing  tranquillity 
for  the  future  years  which  I  may  have  to  live, 
and  that  is  to  remain  in  Europe.  I  can  never 
be  satisfied  in  America.  .  .  ."!  Of  the  "ex- 
King  of  Westphalia  "  she  speaks  in  this  letter 
of  1816  with  the  utmost  indifference.  He  was 
living  at  this  time  at  the  court  of  Wurtemberg. 

1  It  was  at  this  time  (1814)  that  she  had  painted  for  Mr.  James 
Craig,  brother  of  Mrs.  Nicholas  Biddle,  wife  of  the  financier,  the 
miniature  by  Augustin  reproduced  in  this  book. 


IN    THE   EARLY   REPUBLIC    281 

Their  paths  never  crossed  again,  though  once 
they  met  for  a  moment  (in  1822)  in  the  gallery 
of  the  Pitti  Palace  in  Florence.  On  seeing  her, 
Jerome  started  and,  whispering  to  the  Princess 
of  Wiirtemberg,  "  That  is  my  American  wife," 
led  his  second  spouse  down  a  side  aisle  and  so 
avoided  what  might  have  been  an  embarrassing 
encounter. 

The  only  child  of  this  Europe-loving  woman 
and  of  her  husband-who-would-be-king  greatly 
preferred  America,  however,  to  any  land  be- 
yond the  sea  and  poignantly  disappointed  his 
mother  by  marrying  an  American  girl!  One, 
too,  who  lived  in  Baltimore!  "  I  would  rather 
die,  than  marry  any  one  in  Baltimore,"  she  scorn- 
fully declared  when  told  the  news,  "  but  if  my 
son  does  not  feel  as  I  do  upon  this  subject,  of 
course  he  is  quite  at  liberty  to  act  as  he  likes 
best.  As  the  woman  has  money  I  shall  not  for- 
bid the  marriage.  .  .  ."  l 

And  so  the  boy  who,  in  1820,  had  written 
to  his  grandfather,  "  Since  I  have  been  in  Europe 
I  have  dined  with  princes  and  princesses  and  all 
the  great  people  in  Europe  [he  was  made  much 
of  by  his  father's  family  as  he  approached  the 
marriageable  age],  but  I  have  not  found  a  dish 
as  much  to  my  taste  as  the  roast  beef  and  beef- 
steaks I  ate  in  South  Street  "2  came  back  at 

1  Madame  Bonaparte  to  William  Patterson,  December,  1829. 
aThe  home  of  William  Patterson. 


282  ROMANTIC   DAYS 

last  to  found  in  Baltimore  the  family  of  American 
Bonapartes.  Inevitably,  as  has  been  said, 
they  were  all  devoted  Roman  Catholics  and 
so  have  done  much  to  build  up  in  the  middle 
South  the  prestige  of  that  Church  which  had 
served  them  so  well  in  their  time  of  need.  The 
same  Pope,  Pius  VII,  who  braved  the  anger  of 
Napoleon  for  the  sake  of  what  seemed  to  him 
right,  erected  Baltimore,  in  1808,  into  an  archi- 
episcopal  see,  the  Archbishop  chosen  being 
Dr.  John  Carroll,  son  of  Daniel  Carroll  of  Upper 
Marlboro  and  cousin  of  Charles  Carroll  of 
Carroll  ton.  In  1789  Dr.  Carroll  had  founded 
Georgetown  University  at  Washington;  the 
Cathedral  at  Baltimore  was  the  second  monu- 
ment to  this  good  man's  zeal  and  devotion. 

Mrs.  Trollope,  who  was  in  America  in  1829-30 
and  visited  Baltimore  among  other  cities,  has  a 
good  deal  to  say  in  praise  of  the  place,  particu- 
larly the  Cathedral, "  considered  by  all  Americans 
as  a  magnificent  church,  though  it  can  scarcely 
be  so  classed  by  any  one  who  has  seen  the 
churches  of  Europe.  Its  interior,  however,  has 
an  air  of  neatness  that  amounts  to  elegance. 
The  form  is  a  Greek  cross,  having  a  dome  in 
the  centre;  .  .  .  On  each  side  of  the  high  altar 
are  chapels  to  the  Savior  and  the  Virgin.  The 
altars  in  these  as  well  as  the  high  altar  are  of 
native  marbles  of  different  colours,  and  some  of 
the  specimens  are  very  beautiful.  The  decora- 


IN    THE    EARLY   REPUBLIC    283 

tions  of  the  altar  are  elegant  and  costly.  .  .  . 
We  attended  mass  in  this  church  the  Sunday 
after  our  arrival  and  I  was  perfectly  astonished 
at  the  beauty  and  splendid  appearance  of  the 
ladies  who  filled  it.  Excepting  on  a  very  brilliant 
Sunday  at  the  Tuileries  I  never  saw  so  showy 
a  display  of  morning  costume,  and  I  think  I  never 
saw  anywhere  so  many  beautiful  women  at  one 
glance. 

"  Baltimore  is,  I  think,  one  of  the  handsomest 
cities  to  approach  in  the  Union,"  continues  this 
usually-adverse  critic.  "  The  noble  column 
erected  to  the  memory  of  Washington  and  the 
Catholic  Cathedral  with  its  beautiful  dome, 
being  built  on  a  commanding  eminence  are 
seen  at  a  great  distance.  As  you  draw  nearer 
many  other  domes  and  towers  become  visible, 
and  as  you  enter  Baltimore  Street,  you  feel 
that  you  are  arrived  in  a  handsome  and  populous 
city.  ...  It  has  several  handsome  buildings 
and  even  the  private  dwelling-houses  have  a 
look  of  magnificence,  from  the  abundance  of 
white  marble  with  which  many  of  them  are 
adorned.  The  ample  flights  of  steps  and  the  lofty 
door-frames,  are  in  most  of  the  best  houses 
formed  of  this  beautiful  material.  This  has 
been  called  the  city  of  monuments,  from  its 
having  the  stately  column  erected  to  the  memory 
of  General  Washington,  and  which  bears  a 
colossal  statue  of  him  at  the  top;  and  another 


284  ROMANTIC   DAYS 

pillar  of  less  dimensions  recording  some  vic- 
tory, I  forget  which." 

The  victory  which  Mrs.  Trollope  "  forgot " 
was  the  expulsion  of  the  British  troops  from  the 
city  —  an  important  incident  of  the  War  of 
1812.  To  the  men  who  perished  on  this  oc- 
casion and  during  the  bombardment  of  Fort 
McHenry  the  Battle  Monument  so  called  was 
erected.  To  us  this  encounter  is  of  especial 
interest  because  it  furnished  the  inspiration 
for  the  one  really  great  song  of  the  early  Re- 
publican period.  I  mean,  of  course,  "  The 
Star  Spangled  Banner,"  the  words  of  which  were 
written  by  Francis  Scott  Key. 

Key  was  born  in  Maryland,  August  9,  1780. 
He  was  the  son  of  John  Ross  Key,  a  Revolu- 
tionary officer,  and  was  impregnated  from  his 
earliest  youth  with  loyalty  to  the  flag  he  was 
afterward  to  celebrate.  He  studied  law  in  the 
office  of  his  uncle,  and  began  to  practice,  but 
subsequently  removed  to  Washington,  where  he 
became  district  attorney  for  the  District  of 
Columbia. 

The  War  of  1812,  which  his  song  so  nobly 
commemorates,  had  for  some  time  seemed  to  run 
almost  entirely  in  favor  of  England.  Washington 
had  been  captured  and  burned,  and  Baltimore 
itself  was  threatened  with  speedy  destruction. 
From  this  latter  city,  in  1814,  under  a  flag  of 
truce,  and  with  proper  credentials  from  Presi- 


IN    THE   EARLY   REPUBLIC    285 

dent  Madison,  young  Key  set  out  to  procure 
the  release  of  a  physician  friend,  who,  though 
a  non-combatant,  had  been  taken  prisoner  and 
was  in  the  hands  of  Vice-Admiral  Cochrane, 
just  then  planning  a  concerted  attack  by  land 
and  sea  upon  Fort  McHenry,  the  key  to  Balti- 
more. Key's  arrival  could  scarcely  have  been 
more  ill  timed.  But  the  Admiral  agreed  to 
release  the  friend  and  treated  his  envoy  with 
considerable  courtesy.  Only  he  refused  to  allow 
the  young  lawyer  to  return  just  then,  for  fear 
that  the  projected  attack  would  be  betrayed  to 
the  enemy. 

The  bombardment  of  the  fort  began  on  the 
morning  of  September  13,  1814,  and  Key  was 
obliged  to  witness  it  from  the  ship  whose 
guest  he  had  perforce  become.  The  Admiral 
had  boasted  that  he  would  be  able  to  carry 
McHenry  in  a  few  hours,  and  that  the  city  itself 
must  then  surely  fall.  Yet,  for  all  that  he  threw 
some  1,800  shells,  only  four  of  the  little  party 
within  the  fort  were  killed. 

Just  about  daybreak  on  the  fourteenth  the 
firing  ceased,  and  Key  and  a  friend  walked  the 
deck  impatiently,  waiting  for  light  that  they 
might  see  the  result  of  the  previous  day's  bom- 
bardment. At  last  they  were  rewarded  by 
beholding  the  stars  and  stripes  still  floating 
over  the  American  fort. 

At  that  moving  moment,  when,  through  his 


286  ROMANTIC   DAYS 

field-glass,  Key  first  caught  sight  of  the  proudly 
waving  banner  still  floating  over  the  fort  the 
British  had  not  been  able  to  carry,  he  hastily 
jotted  down  on  the  back  of  a  letter  he  happened 
to  have  in  his  pocket,  the  opening  stanzas  of 
the  poem  that  was  to  become  so  celebrated. 

He  finished  it  on  the  boat  as  he  was  going  to 
Baltimore  (inasmuch  as  the  attack  had  failed, 
the  Americans  were  now  at  liberty  to  return 
to  the  city)  and  he  wrote  out  a  good  copy  in 
the  hotel  there  immediately  after  his  arrival. 
So  did  he  succeed  in  catching  the  "  rocket's 
red  glare."  The  piece  was  at  first  called  "  The 
Bombardment  of  Fort  McHenry."  It  was 
printed,  together  with  an  account  of  its  com- 
position, in  the  Baltimore  American  September 
21  of  the  same  year.  The  tune  to  which  it 
was  and  is  still  sung  is  "  Anacreon  in  Heaven," 
an  air  bold,  warlike  and  majestic  —  even  if 
it  does  try  to  the  breaking  point  the  average 
American  voice. 

When  '  The  Star  Spangled  Banner "  was 
sung  for  the  first  time  in  public  —  at  the  Holli- 
day  Street  Theatre  —  the  chorus  was  led  by 
Charles  Durang,  who  had  himself  been  one  of 
the  little  garrison  which  guarded  the  six-gun 
battery  at  North  Point. 

Another  young  poet  with  whom  Baltimore  has 
interesting  associations  is  Edgar  Allan  Poe.1 
1  Poe  is  buried  in  Baltimore,  too,  —  in  Westminster  Churchyard. 


IN    THE    EARLY   REPUBLIC    287 

It  was  here,  indeed,  that  Foe's  first  love-affair 
ran  its  ill-starred  course.  The  girl  in  the  case 
was  named  Mary,  and  she  lived  on  Essex  Street 
in  the  "  old  town,"  not  far  from  the  house  at 
which  Poe,  who  had  then  just  left  West  Point, 
was  boarding.  She  used  to  see  him  —  a  slim, 
well-knit  figure,  tightly  encased  in  a  long  black 
frock  coat,  pale  and  clean-shaven,  with  a  broad, 
white  forehead  and  that  look  of  pain  around  the 
mouth,  which,  combined  with  his  wonderful  eyes 
and  his  fascinating  manners,  made  him  a  verita- 
able  hero  of  romance  —  going  back  and  forth 
to  the  office  where  he  then  toiled;  and  to  see 
him  was  to  fall  in  love  with  him.  Virginia 
Clemm  was  only  a  child  of  ten  at  this  time  and 
she  acted  as  Cupid's  messenger  between  her 
handsome  cousin  and  the  maiden  Mary.  Long 
afterwards  Mary  entrusted  a  full  account  of 
all  this  and  of  the  poet's  deep  and  abiding  pas- 
sion for  her  to  a  kinsman1  and  he,  treasuring 
the  details  carefully,  gave  them  to  the  world 
two  years  after  her  death.  She  and  Poe  were 
then  too  much  engrossed  in  their  own  emotions, 
she  said,  to  talk  about  the  poetic  aspirations  of 
the  young  lover ;  but  he  was  wont  to  quote  Burns's 
"  Mary  "  poems  to  this  sweetheart  of  the  same 
name,  as  they  sat  together  of  an  evening  on  the 
wide  Baltimore  stoop  of  her  home  or  wandered 
in  the  moonlight  over  the  sightly  hills  nearby. 

1  See  Augustus  van  Cleef  in  Harper's  Monthly  for  March,  1889. 


288  ROMANTIC    DAYS 

Once,  when  they  were  thus  walking  on  a 
summer  evening  —  a  night  which  seemed  made 
for  lovers,  —  Poe  tried  to  persuade  his  sweet- 
heart to  go  in  with  him  to  a  minister,  whose 
house  they  were  just  then  passing.  "  We  intend 
to  be  married  sometime,  why  not  now?  "  he 
urged.  But  she,  knowing  he  was  not  yet  in 
any  position  to  take  upon  himself  the  burden  of 
a  wife,  gently  said  him  nay  and  led  the  way 
quickly  home.  Mary's  father,  it  appears,  was 
not  at  all  in  favor  of  the  match.  And  Mary, 
herself,  though  she  loved  her  handsome  young 
adorer,  was  a  good  deal  afraid  of  him.  For  he 
had  a  quick,  passionate  temper,  scoffed  at  the 
religion  which  meant  much  to  her,  showed  him- 
self possessed  of  very  little  self-control  —  and 
was  exceedingly  jealous. 

Their  first  quarrel  came  about  as  a  result  of 
his  quite  groundless  jealousy  of  a  friend  of  her 
brother's  for  whom  she  chanced  to  be  sing- 
ing the  poet's  favorite  song,  "  Come  rest  in  this 
bosom."  While  the  music  was  going  on,  Poe, 
with  one  hand  behind  his  back,  walked  up  and 
down  the  room  and  bit  the  nails  of  the  other  hand 
to  the  quick  as  he  struggled  for  self-control. 
Suddenly,  utterly  beside  himself  with  jealousy, 
he  strode  to  the  side  of  the  piano,  snatched  the 
music  from  the  rack  and  threw  it  on  the  floor! 
Mary,  with  a  tantalizing  laugh,  sang  the  song 
through  to  the  end.  But  there  were  bitter 


IN    THE    EARLY   REPUBLIC    289 

words,  we  scarcely  need  to  be  told,  after  the 
friend  had  gone  away. 

The  final  and  decisive  quarrel  came  one  night 
when  Poe,  who  had  been  expected  all  the  eve- 
ning but  had  failed  to  appear,  arrived  about  ten 
o'clock,  with  signs  of  liquor  on  him.  His  sweet- 
heart had  seen  him  nearly  every  day  for  a 
year,  but  never  before,  she  says,  had  he  given 
any  evidence  of  drink.  This  night,  while  on 
his  way  to  call  upon  her,  he  had  fallen  in  with 
some  old  West  Point  friends  and  they  had  all 
gone  to  Barnum's  Hotel  for  a  champagne  sup- 
per. He  was  so  contrite  for  having  broken  his 
engagement  that  Mary  finally  consented  to 
sit  out  on  the  stoop  with  him  for  a  little  while 
before  going  to  bed.  But  the  drink  had  evi- 
dently gotten  into  his  blood;  for,  that  night, 
he  did  or  said  something  (even  to  her  relatives 
Mary,  as  an  old  lady,  would  not  say  what) 
that  so  shocked  and  surprised  her  that  she 
ran  away  from  him  around  to  the  back  of  the 
house  and  quickly  made  her  way  up  the  stairs 
to  her  mother's  room.  Even  here  Poe  pursued 
her  and  but  for  her  mother's  sturdy  interposi- 
tion might  not  have  been  easily  sent  home. 
For  he  passionately  asserted  that  the  girl  was 
"already  his  wife  in  the  sight  of  Heaven!" 
and  claimed  his  right  to  go  to  her. 

Mary  appears  to  have  had  a  mind  and  a  will 
of  her  own.  For  to  the  stormy  letter  which 


290  ROMANTIC   DAYS 

followed  that  night's  disgraceful  scene  she  paid 
no  attention  and  their  lover-like  relations  came 
definitively  to  an  end.  They  never  met  again 
until  both  were  married. 


CHAPTER  V 

CHARLESTON 

T  T  is  to  Charleston  that  one  should  go  to 
enjoy  American  society  in  all  its  luxury," 
declared  Achille  Murat.1  "  There  the  vari- 
ous circles,  composed  of  planters,  lawyers  and 
physicians,  form  the  most  agreeable  society  I 
have  ever  known.  The  manners  of  the  South 
have  a  perfect  elegance;  the  mind  is  highly  culti- 
vated; and  conversation  turns  upon  an  infinite 
variety  of  subjects  with  spirit,  grace  and  facility." 
The  letter  in  which  ^  this  warmly  enthusiastic 
paragraph  about  Charleston  appears  is  dated 
1832,  the  very  end  of  our  epoch.  But  Josiah 
Quincy,  who  visited  Charleston  just  before  the 
Revolution  (having  come  thither  from  Boston 
"  for  his  health  ")  had  similarly  pleasant  things 
to  say  of  the  town  and  of  its  society. 

Mr.  Quincy  was  a  close  observer  and  his 
Journal  is  most  interesting.  He  tells  us  of  his 
amazement  at  the  appearance  of  the  harbor, 
crowded  with  ships  more  than  any  other  in 
America;  of  the  town  with  its  picturesque 
buildings;  and  of  the  people  and  their  enter- 

1  In  Moral  and  Political  Sketch  of  the  United  States:  London,  1833. 


292  ROMANTIC   DAYS 

tainments.  He  records  that  he  went  to  a  dancing 
assembly  where  the  music  was  bad  and  the 
dancing  good;  to  a  St.  Cecilia  concert  of  which 
he  says  that  it  was  held  in  a  large  and  inele- 
gant building  withdrawn  from  the  street.  Mr. 
David  Deas  had,  he  adds,  given  him  a  ticket, 
on  presenting  which  he  was  passed  from  servant 
to  servant  and  finally  ushered  in.  The  music 
was  grand,  especially  the  bass  viol  and  French 
horns.  The  first  violinist,  a  Frenchman,  played 
the  best  solo  he  had  ever  heard.  His  salary 
was  five  hundred  guineas.  Most  of  the  per- 
lormers  were  gentlemen  amateurs.  He  comments 
on  the  richness  of  dress  of  both  ladies  and  gentle- 
men; says  that  there  were  two  hundred  and 
fifty  ladies  present  and  it  was  called  no  great 
number.  The  ladies  are  "  in  taciturnity  during 
the  performance  greatly  before  our  [Boston] 
ladies;  in  noise  and  flirtation  after  the  music 
is  over,  pretty  much  on  a  par.  If  our  ladies 
have  any  advantage,  it  is  in  white  and  red, 
vivacity  and  spirit.  The  gentlemen  many  of 
them  dressed  with  elegance  and  richness  un- 
common with  us.  Many  with  swords  on." 

To  Lord  Charles  Greville  Montagu,  the 
Governor,  who  was  sailing  the  next  day  for 
England  Mr.  Quincy  was  duly  introduced. 
There  appears  to  have  been  absolutely  no  bitter- 
ness in  Charleston  against  the  mother  country. 
And  then  Mr.  Quincy  went  to  a  dinner  at  Miles 


IN    THE    EARLY   REPUBLIC    293 

Brewton's  "  with  a  large  company,  —  a  most 
superb  house  said  to  have  cost  him  £8000 
sterling."  A  handsome  bird,  probably  a  macaw, 
was  in  the  room  during  dinner,  and  everything 
was  very  comfortable  —  even  luxurious.  Mr. 
Quincy  went  to  the  races,  too.  "  Spent  this 
day,  March  3d,"  he  writes,  "  in  viewing  horses, 
riding  over  the  town,  and  receiving  complimen- 
tary visits."  The  New  England  gentleman  adds 
proudly  that,  besides  seeing  at  the  races  a  fine 
collection  of  excellent  and  very  high-priced 
horses,  he  "  was  let  a  little  into  a  singular  art 
and  mystery  of  the  turf."  Obviously  he,  like 
Achille  Murat,  found  the  hospitable  Southern- 
ers highly  agreeable  people.  As  inojeed  why 
should  they  not  be?  Charleston  was  in  a 
very  prosperous  and  happy  condition  just  then. 
Commerce  was  flourishing,  and  the  interior  of 
the  State  was  gradually  filling  up  and  forming, 
as  it  were,  a  background  for  the  metropolis. 
Earlier  in  the  city's  history  the  Spaniards  and 
the  Indians  had  been  troublesome,  but  now  all 
fear  of  them  was  removed  and  peace  reigned 
at  home  and  abroad. 

To  be  sure,  the  passage  of  the  Stamp  Act  had 
aroused  resistance  here  as  in  every  other  self- 
respecting  city  of  the  Colonies.  And  when  all 
the  taxes  were  finally  removed  —  except  that 
on  tea  —  Charleston  folk  promptly  stored  their 
consignments  of  tea  in  damp  cellars  and  pro- 


294  ROMANTIC   DAYS 

hibited  the  men  to  whom  this  commodity  had 
been  billed  from  offering  it  for  sale.  Armed 
resistance  to  the  power  of  Great  Britain  fol- 
lowed soon  after  this,  and  on  June  28,  1776, 
the  memorable  battle  of  Fort  Moultrie  was 
fought.  To  follow  the  Revolutionary  War  as 
it  dragged  itself  painfully  along  in  this  southern 
city  is  no  part  of  our  plan.  Yet  it  would  be  a 
great  pity  to  pass  without  mention  the  particu- 
larly terrible  story  of  Colonel  Hayne.  The 
whole  country  was  struck  with  consternation 
when  it  first  heard  of  this  brave  soldier's  danger, 
and  it  became  frozen  with  horror  ere  the  tale's 
last  chapter  was  told.  For  Hayne  was  a  planter 
of  good  family  and  high  character  who  had  com- 
manded a  troop  of  horse  during  the  war. 
When  Charleston  capitulated  his  company  was 
disbanded  and,  like  his  comrades,  he  accepted 
the  proffered  parole  and  retired  to  his  plantation. 
Soon,  however,  the  parole  was  revoked  and  the 
cruel  question  put  to  him,  "  Will  you  or  will 
you  not  become  the  subject  of  his  Majesty?  " 
Hayne  promptly  answered  that  he  would  not; 
but  the  British  were  especially  anxious  to  secure 
his  allegiance  because  of  the  great  influence 
he  possessed  in  his  own  neighborhood,  and,  first 
bribes  and  then  threats  were  used  to  make  him 
answer  the  query  in  the  affirmative.  Mean- 
while his  domestic  circumstances  were  painful 
in  the  extreme,  so  painful  that,  for  the  nonce, 


IN    THE   EARLY   REPUBLIC    295 

he  had  little  inclination  to  enroll  himself  with 
either  army.  For  one  child  had  died,  two  others 
were  desperately  ill,  and  his  wife's  life  was  de- 
spaired of. 

While  things  at  home  were  in  this  condition 
he  was  summoned  to  appear  in  all  haste  before 
the  commandant  at  Charleston  and  there  he 
was  told  that  his  liberty  depended  upon  his 
signing  a  declaration  that  he  acknowledged 
himself  a  British  subject;  yet  Colonel  Patterson 
added  that  this  would  not  commit  him  to  bear- 
ing arms  against  his  countrymen.  Hayne  was 
most  unwilling  to  sign  such  a  paper,  but,  in 
order  to  return  to  his  dying  wife,  he  did  put 
his  name  to  the  document  taking  the  precaution, 
however,  to  leave  with  his  friend,  Dr.  Ramsay, 
another  paper  in  which  he  declared  that  the 
signature  to  the  hated  bond  had  been  "  forced 
on  him  by  hard  necessity."  "  I  will  never  bear 
arms  against  my  country,"  he  said  further; 
"  my  masters  can  require  no  service  of  me  but 
what  is  enjoined  by  the  old  militia  law  of  the 
Province,  which  substitutes  a  fine  in  lieu  of 
personal  service.  This  I  will  pay  as  the  price  of 
my  protection.  If  my  conduct  should  be  cen- 
sured by  my  countrymen,  I  beg  that  you  will 
remember  this  conversation,  and  bear  witness 
for  me  that  I  do  not  mean  to  desert  the  cause  of 
America." 

The   harassed    man    thereupon   returned    to 


296  ROMANTIC    DAYS 

his  family.  Some  time  after  his  wife  died. 
Then,  once  again,  Hayne  was  threatened  with 
imprisonment  unless  he  joined  the  British 
army.  Indignant  at  this  breach  of  faith  and 
considering  himself  released  by  it  from  obliga- 
tion to  his  promise,  Hayne  accepted  a  commis- 
sion in  the  American  army,  raised  a  company 
of  his  neighbors,  and  began  a  vigorous  campaign. 
In  the  course  of  a  bold  expedition  he  was  cap- 
tured and  tried,  as  a  traitor,  by  a  hastily 
gathered  court-martial,  which  summarily  con- 
demned him  to  death.  The  horror  which  spread 
over  the  country,  when  the  news  of  his  sentence 
was  announced,  is  indescribable.  In  Charleston 
itself  petitions  signed  by  both  Whigs  and  Tories 
and  by  women  as  well  as  men  were  offered  in 
his  behalf.  In  the  large  drawing-room  of  the 
Brewton  House  the  sister  of  the  condemned 
man's  dead  wife  knelt,  with  his  little  children, 
to  implore  Lord  Rawdon  for  mercy;  and  even 
the  Lieutenant-Governor,  who  had  lately  re- 
turned from  England  ill  unto  death  with  an 
agonizing  disease,  had  himself  carried  on  a 
litter  into  the  presence  of  his  Lordship  to  ask 
the  boon  of  life  for  Hayne.  But  to  each  and  all 
Rawdon  was  obdurate.  He  would  not  even 
grant  the  request  of  the  British  officers  that 
Hayne  should  be  accorded  the  death  of  a  soldier 
instead  of  the  punishment  of  a  spy. 

Even  more  cruel  than  the  refusal  of  all  these 


IN    THE    EARLY   REPUBLIC    297 

requests  was  the  failure,  on  the  part  of  the  gov- 
erning powers,  to  let  the  prisoner  know  what 
manner  of  death  awaited  him.  Not  until  he  had 
passed  the  town  gates  in  King  Street  on  his 
way  from  the  prison  to  the  place  of  execution 
did  he  learn,  by  coming  face  to  face  with  the 
gibbet,  the  shameful  death  which  was  to  be  his ! 
Yet  it  was  with  a  firm  step  that  he  ascended 
the  cart,  with  a  quiet  voice  that  he  repeated 
after  the  clergyman  the  few  prayers  chosen  for 
the  occasion,  and  with  a  gesture  full  of  dignity 
that  he  himself  gave  the  signal  to  the  hangman. 
No  wonder  this  man's  name  is  always  coupled 
in  his  native  State  with  the  word,  "  martyr." 

Charleston  had  been  one  of  the  earliest  cities 
to  suffer  from  the  declaration  of  war  with  Great 
Britain  and  it  was  one  of  the  very  last  to  be 
freed  from  the  duty  and  necessity  of  fighting. 
The  occupation  of  the  city  by  the  enemy  lasted 
until  December,  1782.  Then,  the  very  day  the 
redcoats  marched  out,  the  Americans  marched 
in.  Moultrie,  who  was  of  the  latter  company,  — 
and  who  had  the  good  luck  to  be  there  only 
because  he  had  been  exchanged  for  General 
Burgoyne,  —  records,  "  It  was  a  proud  day 
for  me  and  I  felt  myself  much  elated  at  seeing 
the  balconies,  the  doors  and  windows  crowded 
with  the  patriotick  fair,  the  aged  citizens  and 
others  congratulating  us  on  our  return  home, 
saying  *  God  bless  you,  gentlemen/  —  '  You 


298  ROMANTIC    DAYS 

are  welcome,  gentlemen.'  Both  citizens  and 
soldiers  shed  tears  of  joy.  It  was  an  ample 
reward  for  the  triumphant  soldiers,  after  all 
the  hazards  and  fatigues  of  war  which  they  had 
gone  through,  to  be  the  instrument  of  releasing 
friends  and  fellow-citizens  from  captivity  and 
restoring  them  to  their  liberties  and  the  posses- 
sion of  their  city  and  country  again." 

But  the  town,  alas!  which,  in  1778  had  been 
a  thriving,  prosperous  place,  each  house  of  which 
rejoiced  in  its  own  yard  and  garden,  was  now  a 
pile  of  ugly  ruins.  The  plantations,  too,  were 
pictures  of  desolation.  And  no  man  could  say 
where  the  money  which  should  restore  prosperity 
was  to  come  from.  Rice  proved  to  be  the  prod- 
uct which  spelled  release  from  poverty  in  this 
particular  section  of  the  South -land.  And  then, 
after  tide-water  rice,  came  cotton.  Ralph  Izard, 
as  early  as  1774,  had  seen  the  possibilities  which 
lay  in  the  cultivation  of  cotton,  and  now  many 
another  land-owner  saw  them,  also. 

Soon  prosperity  was  actually  at  hand !  Plenty 
of  evidence  can  be  found  from  the  pages  of 
travelers  that,  by  1790,  Charleston  was  again 
a  very  pretty  place  of  residence.  Though  the 
houses  were  many  of  them  of  wood,  they  were 
large  and  airy,  and  the  fashion  of  having  piazzas 
was  becoming  almost  universal.  The  streets, 
to  be  sure,  were  narrow  —  purposely  so  —  in 
order  that  the  sun  might  be  excluded.  But  this 


IN    THE    EARLY   REPUBLIC    299 

worked  to  the  advantage  of  those  householders 
who  chanced  not  to  command  any  piazza. 
One  fine  old  gentleman  was  always  accustomed 
to  take  his  tea,  in  fine  summer  weather,  on  the 
broad  sidewalk  in  front  of  his  door.  After  the 
table  had  been  brought  out  and  arranged,  pass- . 
ing  friends  would  stop  for  a  cup  and  a  chat. 
Others,  who  chanced  to  be  walking  that  way, 
crossed  the  street  and  went  by  on  the  other  side. 
Charleston  had  good  manners. 

For  Washington's  Southern  tour  in  1791  the 
city,  of  course,  put  on  its  very  best  bib  and  tucker. 
The  house  in  which  he  was  entertained  then  be- 
longed to  Thomas  Hey  ward  and  had  been  rented 
and  handsomely  furnished  by  the  authorities 
for  the  occasion.  From  it  the  President  made 
a  little  journey  to  visit  the  fortifications,  and  to 
it  he  returned  after  numerous  breakfasts,  din- 
ners and  balls,  all  of  which  he  scrupulously  re- 
corded in  his  journal. 

'  Went  to  a  concert  where  were  400  ladies, 
the  number  and  appearance  of  wch  exceeded 
anything  I  had  ever  seen." 

"  Breakfast  with  Mrs.  Rutledge,  lady  of 
Chief  Justice,  then  absent  on  the  Circuit. 
Dinner  with  gentlemen  of  the  Cincinnati." 

"  Was  visited  about  two  o'clock  by  a  great 
number  of  the  most  respectable  ladies  of  Charles- 
ton, the  first  honour  of  the  kind  I  had  ever  ex- 
perienced, as  flattering  as  singular." 


300  ROMANTIC   DAYS 

Moreover,  there  was  a  state  dinner  at  the 
Exchange,  and  at  the  City  Hall  a  concert  and 
ball.  For  this  last  occasion  the  ladies  self- 
sacrificingly  wore  "  fillets  of  white  riband  in- 
terwoven in  their  head-dress  with  the  head  of 
Washington  painted  on  them,  and  the  words, 
'  Long  live  the  President,'  in  gilt  letters.  Every 
hand  that  could  hold  a  pencil,  professional  or 
amateur,  was  enlisted  to  furnish  these  ban- 
deaux." *  And  on  Sunday  the  guest  of  honor 
attended  divine  service  at  both  the  historic 
churches  of  the  town.  In  the  morning  St. 
Philip's  2  welcomed  him;  in  the  afternoon  St. 
Michael's.  The  pew  which  he  occupied  in  the 
latter  edifice  is  preserved  inviolate  unto  this  day. 

To  the  Cincinnati  of  Charleston,  with  whose 
members  Washington,  in  his  Diary,  mentions 
dining  in  the  course  of  this  visit,  is  due  great 
credit  for  their  long-continued  and  finally  suc- 
cessful efforts  to  bring  into  disrepute  the  costly 
custom  of  duelling.  How  strongly  entrenched 
the  custom  was  is  shown  by  the  fact  that  when, 

1  Reminiscences  of  Charleston:  Charles  Fraser. 

2  St.  Philip's  Parish  (the  first  and  oldest  in  South  Carolina  and 
coeval  with  the  Colony)  dates  from  1670,  A.  D.    There  have  been 
three  St.  Philip's  parish  churches,  viz:    the  first  stood  where  St. 
Michael's  now  stands;  the  second,  provided  for  by  the  act  of  March 
1, 1710-11,  and  standing  where  the  present  one  now  stands,  was  com- 
pleted in  1723  and  was  destroyed  by  fire  in  1835,  whereupon  the 
third  and  present  one  was  erected.     St.  Michael's  Parish  was  es- 
tablished by  the  act  of  June  14,  1751,  and  its  church  (still  standing) 
was  completed  in  1761.    See  Dalcho's  History  of  the  Church  in  South 
Carolina. 


IN   THE   EARLY   REPUBLIC    301 

after  Hamilton's  death,  General  Charles  Cotes- 
worth  Pinckney,  as  the  President  of  the  Cincin- 
nati, addressed  a  letter  to  the  President  of  the 
State  Society  protesting  at  this  "  barbarous 
custom  "  to  which  General  Hamilton  had  "  fallen 
a  victim,"  nothing  whatever  came  of  the  matter. 
This,  too,  in  spite  of  the  fact  that  every  man 
felt  the  deep  truth  of  General  Pinckney 's 
assertion,  "  Duelling  is  no  criterion  of  bravery, 
for  I  have  seen  cowards  fight  duels,  and  I  am 
convinced  real  courage  may  often  be  better 
shown  in  the  refusal  than  in  the  acceptance  of 
a  challenge.  If  the  Society  of  the  Cincinnati," 
he  insisted,  "  were  to  declare  their  abhorrence 
of  this  practice,  and  announce  the  determination 
of  all  their  members  to  discourage  it  as  far  as 
they  had  influence,  and  on  no  account  either 
to  send  or  to  accept  a  challenge,  it  might  tend 
to  annul  this  odious  custom."  Yet  it  was  not 
until  a  whole  quarter  of  a  century  later,  when 
General  Thomas  Pinckney  had  succeeded  his 
brother  as  President-general  of  the  society, 
that  a  quarrel  such  as  would  ordinarily  have 
called  for  a  duel  was  for  the  first  time  settled 
by  a  "  Court  of  Honor  "  composed  of  members 
of  the  Cincinnati.  The  precedent  thus  estab- 
lished appears  to  have  had  some  effect  for 
duelling  gradually  became  less  frequent,  "  until 
it  fell  in  1866  with  the  civilization  of  which  it 
was  a  part." 


302  ROMANTIC   DAYS 

To  the  doctrines  disseminated  by  the  French 
Revolution  Charleston  was  eagerly  responsive 
the  brave  men  who  had  had  a  large  share  in 
the  struggle  of  1776  trustfully  thinking  that 
Lafayette  was  to  be  another  Washington  and 
France  a  power  through  which  Europe  should 
be  regenerated.  At  public  entertainments  the 
American  and  French  colors  often  waved  to- 
gether and  the  tri-colored  cockade  wTas  generally 
worn.  Many  Jacobin  clubs  were  formed;  the 
Due  de  Liancourt-Rochefoucauld,  in  his  pub- 
lished travels,  has  an  amused  reference  to  the 
fact  that  "  the  principles  of  the  French  dema- 
gogues predominated  long  in  Charleston."  Mr. 
Charles  Fraser,  whose  delightful  Reminiscences 
give  us  the  best  available  picture  of  Charleston's 
early  "Republican  enthusiasms,  recalls  that  a 
grand  civic  pageant  took  place  January  1, 
1793,  in  honor  of  the  National  Assembly  of 
France.  "  So  great  was  the  public  enthusiasm," 
he  declares,  "  that,  on  the  eve  of  that  day,  the 
bells  of  St.  Michael's  were  chimed,  and  a  salute  of 
thirteen  guns  fired  by  the  artillery.  The  same 
honours  were  repeated  on  the  morning  following, 
and  in  the  course  of  the  day,  a  procession  of 
French  and  American  citizens  paraded  the  streets 
of  Charleston,  headed  by  the  Governor.  .  .  . 
In  passing  before  the  French  Protestant  Church  1 

1  The  French  Protestant  Church  belongs  to  the  very  early  history 
of  Charleston.    A  building  in  which  the  Huguenot  form  of  worship 


the  Consul,  as  an  expiation  for  the  persecutions 
of  Louis  XIV  against  that  church,  took  off  his 
hat,  and  saluted  with  the  national  colours. 
On  arriving  at  St.  Philip's  Church,  the  place 
appointed  for  the  religious  ceremonies  of  the 
day,  two  salutes  were  fired  by  the  regiment  of 
infantry,  an  animated  oration  was  delivered 
by  the  Rev.  Mr.  Coste,  the  Te  Deum  was  sung, 
and  the  service  closed  by  the  Hymne  de  Marseil- 
lois,  accompanied  with  the  organ.  In  the  after- 
noon a  grand  fete  was  given  at  William's  Coffee- 
house, prepared  for  two  hundred  and  fifty  per- 
sons. Two  sets  of  toasts,  French  and  English, 
were  drunk."  As  for  July  14,  the  anniversary 
of  the  destruction  of  the  Bastille,  that  was  cele- 
brated as  if  it  were  an  American  festival! 

When  this  ardent  faith  in  the  beneficence  of 
the  Revolution  was  perforce  violently  shaken 
by  the  acts  of  the  demagogues,  Charlestonians 
actually  suffered.  The  banishment  of  Lafayette 
stirred  people  to  their  depths,  for  it  was  well 
remembered  that  he  had  been  America's  great 
friend  in  time  of  need.  The  greatest  indignation 
was,  indeed,  felt  in  Charleston  because  Washing- 
ton did  not  at  once  demand  the  release  of  this 
great  and  good  man.  And  it  was  a  young  Caro- 

was  carried  on  has  stood  on  the  southeast  corner  of  Church  and 
Queen  Streets  ever  since  1687  (about).  The  first  building  was  des- 
troyed by  fire  in  1740,  a  second  met  the  same  fate  in  1796  but  was 
rebuilt  in  1797.  This  last  edifice  was  remodeled  and  enlarged  in 
1845. 


304  ROMANTIC   DAYS 

linian,  Francis  Kinloch  Huger,1  who  made  that 
gallant  attempt  to  liberate  the  prisoner  at 
Olmutz  which  forms  one  of  the  most  thrilling 
chapters  of  early  Republican  history. 

Huger  was  only  a  child  of  three  when  he  first 
met  Lafayette;  by  chance,  it  was  at  his  father's 
house,  on  North  Island,  South  Carolina,  that 
the  young  Frenchman  passed  the  first  night  of 
his  stay  in  America.  (He  and  the  Baron  de 
Kalb  had  taken  to  the  boats,  from  the  vessel 
which  had  brought  them  across  the  Atlantic, 
in  order  to  avoid  British  cruisers.)  This  was  in 
1776.  The  attempted  rescue  of  Lafayette  came 
in  1794,  when  Huger  had  just  attained  his 
majority.  The  profession  chosen  by  the  brave 
young  South  Carolinian  was  that  of  a  surgeon 
and  he  thus  came  into  contact  at  Vienna  with 
the  clever  young  physician  of  Hanover,  Dr. 
Bollmann,  who  had  been  engaged  by  friends  of 
Lafayette  to  discover  the  latter's  prison  and  at- 
tempt his  rescue.  Bollmann  had  already  been  at 
work  on  the  matter  for  a  year  when  he  fell  in 
with  Huger,  and  he  had  then  just  succeeded 
in  establishing  connections  with  the  famous 
prisoner  at  Olmutz  by  means  of  some  French 
books,  on  the  margins  of  which  a  plan  of  escape 
had  been  written  in  lemon- juice  characters  found 
to  be  easily  legible  upon  being  held  to  the  fire. 

1  Huger  was  born  in  Charleston  in  1773  and  died  there  in  1855. 
In  1811  he  married  the  daughter  of  General  Thomas  Pinckney. 


IN    THE    EARLY   REPUBLIC    305 

When  Huger  was  told  the  plan  that  had  been 
made  to  rescue  Lafayette  some  day  when  he 
should  be  out  riding  he  was  eager  to  help. 
Accordingly,  he  and  Bollmann  hired  a  post- 
chaise  and  a  servant,  besides  two  horses,  one  of 
which  had  been  trained  to  carry  double.  Then 
they  made  the  journey  of  one  hundred  and  fifty 
miles  to  Olmutz.  Arriving  there  the  servant 
with  the  chaise  was  dispatched  to  Hoff,  a  town 
about  twenty -five  miles  from  Olmutz  on  the  road 
they  hoped  soon  to  be  traveling  with  Lafayette 
under  their  care.  Then,  at  the  hour  when  they 
knew  the  prisoner  was  given  his  airing,  the 
rescuers  started  to  meet  him.  They  recognized 
him  easily  by  his  pre-arranged  gesture  (raising 
his  hat  and  wiping  his  forehead  with  his  hand- 
kerchief), quickly  overpowered  the  guard  who 
kept  at  his  side  as  he  alighted  to  take  his  exercise, 
and  then  Huger,  bidding  the  General  mount  one 
of  the  horses,  directed  him  to  "  Go  to  Hoff." 
Unfortunately  this  direction  was  given  in  Eng- 
lish and  was  understood  by  Lafayette  to  be 
"  Go  off."  Obediently,  he  let  his  horse  canter 
slowly  away. 

Thus  very  valuable  moments  were  lost,  mo- 
ments during  which  the  mounted  soldier,  who 
had  been  riding  behind  the  prisoner's  carriage, 
was  able  to  gallop  back  and  report  the  rescue. 
Unhappily,  too,  Lafayette  had  taken  the  horse 
trained  to  carry  double,  so  that  either  Bollmann 


306  ROMANTIC    DAYS 

or  Huger  must  needs  waive  the  chance  of  escape. 
The  latter  insisted  that  the  Hanoverian,  who 
spoke  German,  could  most  effectively  serve 
Lafayette,  and  so  gave  up  to  him  the  remaining 
horse.  But  the  sacrifice  was  of  no  avail  for 
all  three  men  were  soon  captured,  Huger 
being  chained  for  many  days  to  the  floor  of 
a  dungeon  from  which  all  light  had  been  ex- 
cluded, and  denied  any  opportunity  to  commu- 
nicate with  the  outside  world.  After  eight 
months  he  and  Bollmann  were  released,  the 
judges  having  been  bribed  by  their  friends. 
Lafayette  was  not  set  free  for  another  three 
years. 

Another  highly  creditable  connection  of  the 
city  with  the  French  Revolution  was  the  ready 
and  generous  help  accorded  by  Charlestonians 
to  the  St.  Domingo  refugees  who  had  been 
driven  out  of  their  island  by  the  horrible  mas- 
sacres of  1792.  The  mother  of  Joseph  Jefferson 
was  one  of  these  refugees.  Her  charming  face 
and  gentle  manners,  as  a  child  of  ten,  attracted 
the  attention  of  the  daughter  of  General  Mac- 
pherson  into  whose  home  she  was  taken  and 
tenderly  cared  for  until  she  arrived  at  woman's 
estate.  To  this  great  increase  of  French  pop- 
ulation in  Charleston  and  the  natural  fondness 
which  the  French  people  have  for  theatricals 
was  due  the  establishment  of  a  French  theatre 
in  the  town,  in  1794,  with  a  good  company  of 


IN    THE    EARLY   REPUBLIC    307 

comedians,  pantomimists,  rope-dancers  and  the 
like.  A  rendering  of  the  Marseillaise  in  which 
the  audience  joined  was  long  a  feature  here. 
Later,  the  building  was  converted  into  a  public 
hall  for  concerts  and  dancing  assemblies  and 
here,  so  long  as  it  continued  to  be  a  musical 
society,  met  the  St.  Cecilia. 

This  musical  organization,  which  Mr.  Quincy 
speaks  of  having  enjoyed  when  he  was  in  Charles- 
ton before  the  Revolution,  is  as  peculiarly 
a  product  of  the  city  we  are  now  considering 
as  were  the  Wistar  parties  a  distinctly  Phila- 
delphian  institution.  It  met  on  a  Thursday 
'  Thursday  being  St.  Cecilia's  day."  It  was 
begun  in  the  year  1737  as  an  amateur  concert 
society  and  amateurs  long  continued  to  com- 
pose the  bulk  of  its  membership;  General  C.  C. 
Pinckney  and  Mr.  Ralph  Izard  were  both  of 
the  St.  Cecilia  in  their  youth.  The  society 
was  formally  organized  in  1762  and  has  gone  on  to 
the  present  day  excepting  during  the  war  periods. 

When  it  was  learned  that  President  Monroe 
was  to  visit  Charleston  the  St.  Cecilia  attempted 
to  muster  all  its  forces  to  do  him  honor;  but 
evidently  the  club's  musical  ardor  had  now  de- 
clined, for  the  committee  was  obliged  to  report 
that  only  five  performers  could  be  found  for 
a  concert  —  and  it  was  proposed  to  give  a 
ball  instead.  For  this  occasion  a  combination 
appears  to  have  been  effected,  but  in  1822  the 


308  ROMANTIC    DAYS 

concert  was  definitely  abandoned  and  the  ball 
came  in  to  take  its  place.  Membership  in  this 
interesting  organization  is  by  election  at  annual 
meetings  and  the  fact  that  an  aspirant's  father 
or  grandfather  was  formerly  a  member  greatly 
helps  his  chances.  But  worthy  "  new  "  people 
are  by  no  means  excluded  and  when  a  man  is 
once  elected  the  names  of  the  ladies  of  his  house- 
hold are  forthwith  placed  upon  the  St.  Cecilia's 
list  there  to  remain  until  the  day  of  their  death 
unless  they  have  previously  left  the  city.  The 
managers  of  the  organization  are  elected  by 
the  general  membership  and  upon  them  rests 
all  the  care  of  the  three  balls  given  each  season, 
the  first  in  January  and  the  second  and  third 
in  February,  the  latter  being  carefully  arranged 
to  avoid  Lent.  A  charming  feature  is  that  at 
such  balls  the  latest  bride  is  always  taken  down 
to  supper  by  the  president.  These  suppers  are 
very  elegantly  served,  for  the  Society  owns  its 
own  plate,  damask,  china  and  glass  and  the  serv- 
ants of  members  are  enlisted  to  serve  as  waiters. 
Another  unique  social  institution  of  Charles- 
ton, which  continued  through  many  years,  were 
the  breakfasts  given  by  Mr.  Poinsett,  a  gentle- 
man interesting  to  all  Americans  as  the  person 
for  whom  the  gorgeous  Poinsettia  was  named. 
The  only  son  of  a  wealthy  physician  of  Huguenot 
descent  this  gracious  host  was  a  citizen  of  the 
world  in  the  finest  meaning  of  the  words.  But 


IN    THE    EARLY   REPUBLIC    309 

he  was  a  good  American  before  everything  else 
and  was  glad  to  return  to  America,  and  represent 
his  city  in  Congress  establishing  himself,  during 
the  intervals  of  the  sessions,  in  a  small  cottage 
surrounded  by  trees  and  by  the  flowers  which 
were  the  passion  of  his  life.  His  breakfasts, 
given  once  a  week,  were  deservedly  famous  for 
only  men  who  knew  how  to  talk  and  women  who 
were  endowed  with  either  beauty  or  "charm  or 
both  were  bidden.  Late  in  life  Mr.  Poinsett 
married  a  widow  who  possessed  both  wealth  and 
good  looks  and  was  an  Izard  besides!  Thence- 
forth he  was  more  than  ever  a  prominent  figure 
in  the  life  of  his  native  town. 

A  town  in  which  a  meal  so  little  promising 
as  breakfast  could  be  made  to  take  high  social 
rank  would  naturally  offer  very  great  opportu- 
nities to  the  amenities  which  cluster  about  the 
tea-table.  "  In  the  days  of  the  early  Republic 
it  was  a  common  custom  for  ladies  at  Charleston 
to  send  their  compliments  to  a  friend,  soon 
after  breakfast,  saying  that  if  not  engaged  in 
the  evening,  they  would  take  tea  with  her," 
Mr.  Fraser  recalls.  He  says,  also,  that  he  once 
heard  these  same  worthy  matrons  compared, 
as  they  sat  side  by  side  in  a  row  at  a  ball,  to 
"  a  Roman  Senate  " !  Yet  they  were  not  merely 
chaperons.  For,  formerly,  dancing  was  not  the 
exclusive  amusement  of  the  young.  At  the 
first  public  assembly  after  the  Revolutionary 


310  ROMANTIC    DAYS 

War  the  ball  was  opened  by  a  minuet  between 
General  Moultrie,  in  full  regimentals,  and  "  a 
lady  of  suitable  years,"  whom  he  afterwards 
married.  General  Moultrie  was  not  a  day  less 
than  fifty -three  at  this  time;  what  the  lady's 
"  suitable  years  "  totalled  we  are  not  informed. 
While  we  are  speaking  of  dancing  it  may  be 
noted  that,  in  Charleston,  at  this  period  was 
to  be  seen  that  same  tendency  to  the  extremely 
decollete  in  ball  gowns  of  which  we  have  heard 
in  connection  with  Washington  society  and 
certain  Baltimore  belles.  But,  as  if  to  compen- 
sate for  undressed  shoulders,  the  head  was 
literally  burdened  with  head-dress,  frizzes  and 
wigs.  And  that  despite  the  fact  that  it  was 
well  known  that  there  was  a  direct  relation 
between  the  prevalence  of  the  guillotine  in 
France  and  the  vogue  of  wigs  in  Charleston ! 

By  the  time  it  had  become  well  reestablished 
in  prosperity  Charleston  began  to  have  its 
"  season "  even  as  London  has.  But  at  a 
different  time  of  year.  For  in  this  southern 
city  the  call  to  town-gaiety  came  at  the  end  of 
January,  when  a  joyous  succession  of  St.  Cecilias, 
Dancing  Assembles  and  Philharmonic  Concerts 
made  life  in  the  city  seem  exceedingly  good  to 
the  young  people,  while,  for  "  father,"  there  was 
the  Jockey  Ball  in  the  midst  of  a  week  of  races. 
These  races  long  made  Charleston  the  centre 
of  travel  for  all  who  could  afford  to  travel. 


IN    THE    EARLY   REPUBLIC    311 

Partly,  very  likely,  because  of  the  personal 
interest  everywhere  taken  by  the  planters  in 
the  raising  and  training  of  horses  the  enthu- 
siasm produced  by  this  annual  festival  was  such 
as  can  scarcely  be  conceived  today.  "  Schools 
were  dismissed,"  Mr.  Praser  tells  us,  "  and  the 
Courts  were  adjourned.  Clergymen  thought 
it  no  impropriety  to  see  a  well-contested  race; 
and  if  grave  physicians  played  truant,  they  were 
sure  to  be  found  in  the  crowd  on  the  race- 
ground.  Every  stable  in  the  city  was  emptied 
—  every  saddle  and  bridle  put  into  requisition, 
and  those  who  could  procure  neither  horse, 
saddle  nor  bridle  enlisted  as  pedestrians.  The 
concourse  itself  presented  quite  a  showy  and 
animated  spectacle,  from  the  number  of  well- 
dressed  and  well-mounted  horsemen,  and  from 
the  display  of  equipages  and  liveries.  The 
whole  week  was  devoted  to  pleasure  and  the 
interchanges  of  conviviality;  nor  were  the 
ladies  unnoticed,  for  the  Race  ball,  given  to 
them  by  the  Jockey  Club,  was  always  the  most 
splendid  of  the  season." 

It  should  not,  however,  be  thought  that  this 
festival  of  the  races  had  only  its  frivolous  and 
self-indulgent  side.  It  was,  also,  of  tremendous 
commercial  importance.  For  it  was  in  race- 
week  that  the  planter  settled  accounts  with  his 
factor.  The  factor  seems  to  have  been  the  pur- 
chasing agent  of  the  country  family,  as  well  as 


312  ROMANTIC    DAYS 

of  his  immediate  employer,  the  planter.  And 
he  was  likewise  the  selling  agent,  receiving  the 
rice  and  cotton,  when  sent  to  market,  and  get- 
ting for  it  the  best  possible  price  from  the  mer- 
chant to  whom  he  sold  it.  Moreover,  the  factor 
kept  all  the  accounts  connected  with  the  plan- 
tation and  did  what  he  could  to  make  them 
understood  by  his  over-lord.  That  was  a  day 
when  many  a  planter  could  read  Homer  and 
make  a  speech  to  explain  the  Constitution; 
but  from  the  very  nature  of  things  he  could 
not  solve  correctly  a  simple  problem  of  arith- 
metic. This,  then,  and  pretty  much  every- 
thing else  that  was  hard  or  disagreeable,  fell 
to  the  lot  of  the  factor.  Small  wonder  that 
Carolina's  gentlemen  not  infrequently  found 
their  affairs  in  a  hopeless  muddle  at  some  stage 
or  other  of  their  lives.  To  trust  an  employe  is 
all  very  well;  but  constantly  to  deny  him  either 
cooperation  or  intelligent  interest  is  to  put  a 
premium  upon  dishonesty. 

Let  us  now,  however,  return  to  the  planter's 
country-home  as  the  planter  himself  was  wont 
to  do  directly  his  week  of  racing  was  over.  By 
the  first  of  March  he  was  back  on  his  ancestral 
acres  and  by  April  the  ladies  were  there,  too, 
eager  to  en  joy  the  coming  of  spring  in  the  country. 
But  by  May  they  would  have  to  go  away  again, 
for  the  streams  and  ponds  of  the  lowlands  would 
then  be  looking  green  and  ugly  and,  in  a  day 


3  1 

<      03 


su     •£• 


THEODOSIA   BURR. 
From  the  portrait  by  St.  Memin. 


IN    THE   EARLY   REPUBLIC    313 

when  the  virtues  of  quinine  were  not  yet  under- 
stood, that  meant  malaria.  Not  until  the  first 
frost  had  fallen  would  their  country -homes  now 
see  the  women.  But  from  November  to  Jan- 
uary they  would  be  there  again,  enjoying  to 
the  utmost  the  pleasures  of  a  country  winter 
out  of  doors.  And  Christmas,  for  which  the 
Legislature  always  adjourned,  was  the  culmi- 
nating home-festival  of  the  year. 

A  goodly,  gracious  life,  but  one  so  very  differ- 
ent from  that  of  the  North  that  a  girl  coming 
to  it  as  a  bride  1  might  quite  conceivably  find 
rather  difficult  the  matter  of  adjusting  herself 
to  its  trying  climate  and  to  its  constant  comings 
and  goings.  Theodosia  Burr,  who  married 
Joseph  Alston  and  went  to  Charleston  to  live, 
early  in  the  nineteenth  century,  once  said  quite 
frankly  that  only  her  great  love  for  her  husband 
availed  to  make  the  city  endurable  to  her. 

1  Brides,  of  course,  differed  then  as  now  in  their  attitude  towards 
country  life.  Mrs.  Ralph  Izard,  who  had  been  Alice  de  Lancey,  a 
belle  of  New  York,  —  before  she  married  and  went  to  live  on  her 
husband's  southern  plantation  "  The  Elms,"  —  appears  to  have 
greatly  enjoyed  herself  in  her  new  home.  It  is  told  of  her  that  once, 
when  her  husband  was  ill,  she  personally  managed  his  large  estate 
and  wrote  his  business  letters,  besides  taking  care  of  three  families  of 
children.  No  man  more  fully  enjoyed  Washington's  confidence  than 
Ralph  Izard.  During  the  Revolutionary  struggle  the  Izards  were 
out  of  the  country,  however,  living  in  London,  in  Paris  and  in  Rome. 
It  was  in  the  last  named  city  that  the  striking  portrait,  herewith 
reproduced,  was  made  of  them  by  John  Singleton  Copley.  From 
1789-95  Ralph  Izard  represented  his  native  State  in  the  United 
States  Senate.  He  died  in  South  Bay,  near  Charleston,  in  1804, 
aged  62, 


314  ROMANTIC   DAYS 

Even  before  her  marriage  we  find  her  inveigh- 
ing against  local  conditions  in  a  fashion  quite 
unusual  in  love-letters.  But  then,  Theodosia 
Burr  was  an  exceptional  person  in  more  ways 
than  one. 

Highly  exceptional  was  she,  of  course,  in  the 
passionate  devotion  she  cherished  for  her  father 
and  in  the  way  in  which  she  believed  in  him  and 
stuck  to  him  through  the  many  trying  chapters 
of  his  extraordinary  career.  Parton  says  that 
it  was  the  conviction  that  there  must  have  been 
much  good  in  the  man  who  could  inspire  such 
love  as  Theodosia  Alston  gave  Aaron  Burr  which 
first  interested  him  to  write  the  latter's  biog- 
raphy. Nowadays,  of  course,  we  are  constantly 
discovering  that  Burr  was  far  from  being  the 
unmitigated  villain  American  historians  have  too 
long  declared  him.1 

The  twelve  years  of  Burr's  married  life  un- 
questionably mark  the  brightest  and  best 
period  of  his  career.  He  often  said  that  Theo- 
dosia's  mother,  who  had  been  the  Widow  Prevost 
when  he  married  her,  was  the  best  woman  and 
the  finest  lady  he  had  ever  known;  history  has 
never  denied  that  little  Theodosia  was  exceed- 
ingly fortunate  in  the  matter  of  this  parent. 

1  One  ancient  myth  about  a  girl  Burr  is  usually  credited  with 
having  "  ruined  on  a  wager  "  has  been  effectually  exploded,  within 
ten  years,  by  V.  Lansing  Collins,  librarian  at  Princeton  University. 
See  New  York  Sun,  January  26,  1902,  for  article  copied  from  the 
Princeton  Alumni  Weekly. 


IN    THE    EARLY   REPUBLIC    315 

The  child  was  born  at  Albany  in  the  summer  of 
1783,  Burr's  residence  then  being  in  New  York's 
capital  because  of  his  political  duties  there. 
The  following  winter  the  family  moved  to  New 
York  and  established  a  home  in  Maiden  Lane, 
'*  the  rent  to  commence  when  the  troops  leave 
the  city."  That  Burr  was  very  prosperous  at 
this  period  is  clear  from  the  fact  that  the  rent 
thus  referred  to  came  to  something  like  two 
hundred  pounds  a  year.  Soon  an  even  better 
house  was  taken,  a  mansion  at  the  corner  of 
Cedar  and  Nassau  Streets  surrounded  by  a 
luxurious  garden  in  which  the  little  Theodosia 
played  happily  for  several  years. 

Charles  Lamb  once  said  that  babies  merely 
as  babies  have  no  right  to  our  regard,  adding 
that  every  child  has  a  character  of  his  own  and 
should  be  judged  by  that.  Aaron  Burr,  who 
came  of  a  long  line  of  schoolmasters  and  had 
the  pedagogical  instinct  very  strongly  developed, 
seems  to  have  been  convinced  of  the  truth  of 
this.  For  his  little  daughter  had  scarcely  passed 
babyhood  when  he  began  to  mould  her  into  the 
lovely  woman  she  afterwards  became.  His 
absorbing  interest  in  her  was  naturally  greatly 
facilitated  by  her  passionate  devotion  to  him. 
We  find  from  one  of  her  mother's  letters  to  the 
absent  husband  that  their  daughter,  then  only 
two  years  old,  "  cannot  hear  you  spoken  of 
without  an  apparent  melancholy;  insomuch 


316  ROMANTIC    DAYS 

that  her  nurse  is  obliged  to  exert  her  invention 
to  divert  her,  and  myself  avoid  to  mention  you 
in  her  presence.  She  was  one  day  indifferent 
to  everything  but  your  name.  Her  attachment 
is  not  of  a  common  nature;  though  this  was 
my  opinion  I  avoided  the  remark,  when  Mr. 
Grant  observed  it  to  me  as  a  singular  instance." 

The  letters  which  passed  between  Burr  and 
his  wife  during  these  years  of  Theodosia's 
childhood  when,  from  the  nature  of  his  work, 
he  was  obliged  to  be  much  away  from  home, 
are  full  of  thought  about  the  education  of  this 
gifted  child.  Ere  she  is  six  her  father  directs  that 
her  writing  and  arithmetic  must  by  no  means 
be  neglected  and,  a  fortnight  later,  we  find  him 
giving  orders  that  she  be  drilled  two  or  three 
hours  a  day  at  French  and  arithmetic.  That  the 
child  might  overwork  seems  never  to  have  oc- 
curred to  these  devoted  parents.  Yet  to  us,  as 
we  read,  it  seems  somewhat  excessive  that,  in 
July  weather,  a  little  girl  of  eight  should  be 
"  writing  and  ciphering  from  five  in  the  morn- 
ing to  eight,  and  also  the  same  hours  in  the 
evening." 

After  Burr  had  purchased  Richmond  Hill 
riding  occupied  some  of  the  hours  Theodosia 
had  previously  given  over  to  ciphering  and  many 
poorer  children  looked  after  her  with  envy  as 
she  trotted  about  on  her  pretty  pony  followed 
by  a  devoted  slave.  Then  and  for  many  years 


IN    THE   EARLY   REPUBLIC    317 

she  was  a  child  of  affluence.  Not  until  she  had 
left  her  father's  house,  indeed,  did  a  shadow  of 
misfortune  fall  on  it  or  her.  Except  —  it  should 
immediately  be  added,  —  the  death  in  1794  of 
Mrs.  Burr  after  a  painful  and  lingering  illness. 
If  we  needed  further  proof  that  Burr's  love  for 
this  wife  was  compounded  of  friendship  as 
well  as  of  passion  we  have  only  to  read  a  single 
one  of  his  letters  to  her  —  and  there  are  many 
of  similar  tone  —  which  he  sent  from  Phila- 
delphia —  where  he  was  obliged  to  live,  because 
then  a  senator  —  the  year  before  her  death. 
"  It  was  a  knowledge  of  your  mind,"  he  there 
says,  "  which  first  inspired  me  with  a  respect 
for  that  of  your  sex.  I  admit,  with  some  regret, 
I  confess,  that  the  ideas  which  you  have  often 
heard  me  express  in  favor  of  female  intellectual 
powers  are  founded  on  what  I  have  imagined, 
more  than  what  I  have  seen,  except  in  you" 
A  week  before  he  had  written,  "  Cursed  effects 
of  fashionable  education,  of  which  both  sexes 
are  the  advocates,  and  yours  eminently  the  vic- 
tims! If  I  could  foresee  that  Theo  would  be- 
come a  mere  fashionable  woman,  with  all  the 
attendant  frivolity  and  vacuity  of  mind,  adorned 
with  whatever  grace  and  allurement,  I  would 
earnestly  pray  God  to  take  her  forthwith  hence. 
But  I  yet  hope  by  her  to  convince  the  world 
what  neither  sex  appears  to  believe  —  that 
women  have  souls." 


318  ROMANTIC   DAYS 

Surely  it  was  not  a  mere  libertine  who  wrote 
that.  Nor  a  libertine  who  sat  up  all  night  a 
week  later,  in  Philadelphia,  reading  the  revolu- 
tionary book  of  the  age  on  Woman's  Rights. 
'  You  have  heard  me  speak  of  Miss  Wollstone- 
craft,"  Burr  then  wrote  his  wife,  "  who  has 
done  something  on  the  French  Revolution;  she 
has  also  written  a  book  entitled  *  Vindication 
of  the  Rights  of  Woman.'  I  had  heard  it  spoken 
of  with  a  coldness  little  calculated  to  excite  at- 
tention; but  as  I  read  with  avidity  and  pre- 
possession everything  written  by  a  lady,  I 
made  haste  to  procure  it  and  spent  the  last 
night,  almost  the  whole  of  it,  in  reading  it. 
Be  assured  that  your  sex  has  in  her  an  able  ad- 
vocate. It  is,  in  my  opinion,  a  work  of  genius. 
She  has  successfully  adopted  the  style  of  Rous- 
seau's Emilius,  and  her  comments  on  that  work, 
especially  what  relates  to  female  education, 
contains  more  sense  than  all  the  other  criti- 
cisms upon  him  which  I  have  seen  put  together. 
I  promise  myself  much  pleasure  in  reading  it 
to  you."  (Burr,  like  most  pedagogical  persons, 
had  the  reading-aloud  habit.) 

At  eleven  Theodosia  began  the  study  of 
Greek,  and  from  that  time  on  until  her  marriage 
her  education  was  as  nearly  like  that  of  a  young 
man  as  the  time  of  which  she  was  a  part  would  al- 
low. Yet  the  more  distinctly  womanly  accom- 
plishments were  by  no  means  neglected.  A 


IN    THE    EARLY   REPUBLIC    319 

young  French  woman,  Natalie  1'Age,  was  taken 
into  the  family  in  order  that  Theodosia  might 
have  the  advantages  of  French  conversation, 
and  music  had  early  been  included  in  her 
curriculum,  as  we  find  from  the  following  letter 
which  she  wrote  her  stepbrother  when  only 
nine.  The  letter  is  refreshingly  free  from  the 
prig-like  qualities  we  might  have  expected  to 
find  in  a  child  educated  with  such  extreme 
care. 

"  PELHAM,  October  the  20th,  1792. 

"  DEAR  BROTHER:  I  hope  the  mumps  have  left 
you.  Mine  left  me  a  week  ago.  .  .  .  Papa  has 
been  here  and  is  gone  again.  He  and  the  French- 
man has  had  a  fray,  so  he  keeps  in  fine  order. 
The  day  before  papa  went  away  we  had  your 
good  pig  for  diner.  Mr.  Chapron  is  in  Phila- 
delphia at  the  point  of  death  with  the  putrid 
fever,  and  Mr.  Luet,  an  english  music  master, 
had  an  elegant  forte-piano  which  papa  bought 
for  me:  it  cost  33  Guineas,  and  it  is  just  come 
home. 

"  I  am  tired  of  affectionate,  not  of  being  it 
but  of  writing  it,  so  I  leave  it  out;  I  am  your 
sister, 

"THEODOSIA  B.  BURR." 

The  italicized  words  (and  there  are  several 
more  of  them  in  the  full  letter)  are  Theodosia's 


320  ROMANTIC    DAYS 

own  admissions  of  discovered  slips  in  spelling 
or  grammar.  According  to  her  father's  plan 
she  would  use  these  same  words  and  expressions 
again  in  the  next  letter  she  might  write,  taking 
care,  however,  not  to  repeat  the  original  mis- 
takes. 

Parton  has  said  that  Mary  Wollstonecraft's 
book  was  fifty  years  in  advance  of  the  time  and 
this  seems  to  me  a  moderate  statement.  Yet 
Burr  immediately  recognized  the  work's  value 
and  applied  to  the  education  of  his  only  child 
the  high  principles  therein  advocated.  In 
championing  the  new  author's  idea  that  in- 
tellectual rather  than  sexual  intercourse  should 
be  the  thing  chiefly  sought  in  marriage  —  be- 
cause it  alone  could  endow  that  institution  with 
lasting  happiness  —  Burr  was  but  acting  on 
the  experience  of  his  own  married  life.  Ad- 
mirable as  were  many  of  the  women  whom  the 
great  and  good  men  of  this  period  had  chosen 
for  their  wives  Mrs.  Burr  perhaps  stands  alone 
as  the  intellectual  companion  of  her  mate.  In 
literary  judgment  she  was  quite  her  husband's 
equal;  in  moral  judgment  she  was  his  superior. 
And  so  he  did  not  fear  to  let  their  girl  child  read 
Horace  and  Terence  in  the  original  at  ten,  and 
attack  the  Greek  grammar,  speak  French  and 
study  Gibbon  not  long  after  that  date.  So  it 
came  about  that  Theodosia  Burr  was  the  best 
educated  woman  of  her  time  and  country,  and 


IN    THE    EARLY   REPUBLIC    321 

one,  too,  who  in  other  ways  satisfied  her  father's 
ideal  of  a  perfect  woman  nobly  planned.  On  the 
eve  of  his  duel  with  Hamilton  Burr  wrote  to 
her,  "  You  have  completely  satisfied  all  that 
my  heart  and  affections  had  hoped  for,  or  ever 
wished." 

When  Theodosia  was  fourteen  she  took  her 
place  at  the  head  of  her  father's  household  and 
became  his  constant  companion  in  the  intervals 
when  his  duties  admitted  of  his  being  at  home. 
Her  command  of  the  French  language  enabled 
her  to  acquit  herself  with  distinction  when 
Jerome  Bonaparte,  Talleyrand  or  Volney  were 
her  father's  guests.  At  seventeen,  she  was  a 
recognized  belle  with  many  admirers  ever  in  her 
wake.  The  man  who  was  to  capture  this  prize 
among  women  was,  however,  a  Charleston  youth, 
Joseph  Alston,  who,  though  only  twenty-two, 
had  already  studied  law  and  been  admitted  to 
the  bar  —  this,  too,  in  spite  of  the  fact  that  he 
was  possessed  of  considerable  wealth  in  his 
own  right  and  needed  not  to  bestir  himself. 
It  was  of  the  family  home  of  the  Alstons,  "  The 
Oaks,"  that  Josiah  Quincy  wrote  thus  ap- 
preciatively in  his  journal  during  that  visit 
to  Charleston  in  1773,  reference  to  which  has 
been  made  earlier  in  this  chapter:  "March  23. 
—  Spent  the  night  at  Mr.  Joseph  Alston's,  a 
gentleman  of  immense  income,  all  of  his  own 
acquisition.  His  plantations,  negroes,  gardens 


322  ROMANTIC   DAYS 

etc.  are  in  the  best  order  I  have  ever  seen.  He 
has  propagated  the  Lisbon  and  Wine  Island 
grapes  with  great  success.  I  was  entertained 
with  true  hospitality  and  benevolence  by  his 
family."  This  Joseph  Alston  died  when  his 
namesake  and  grandson,  who  was  later  to  marry 
Theodosia  Burr,  was  but  a  boy.  In  his  will 
was  the  provision  that  young  Joseph,  besides 
inheriting  "  The  Oaks,"  should  be  given  the 
most  liberal  possible  education. 

Consequently,  when  Theodosia  Burr  began  to 
quote  Aristotle  to  her  lover  in  order  to  prop  up 
her  conviction  that  "  a  man  should  not  marry 
until  he  is  six  and  thirty,"  that  lover,  being  then 
only  two  and  twenty  and  very  much  in  love, 
replied  in  a  very  long,  sufficiently  learned  but 
withal  undeniably  ardent  letter  the  gist  of 
which  was  that  he  did  not  care  a  fig  what  Aris- 
totle had  said  about  this  matter,  for  he  wanted 
to  marry  her  right  off.  Already,  however, 
Theodosia  had  relented.  Before  his  elaborate 
arguments  had  had  time  to  reach  her  we  find  her 
writing  that  she  and  her  father  were  to  leave 
New  York  for  Albany  in  about  two  weeks,  re- 
maining there  until  February  10,  after  which 
time,  she  intimates,  "  my  movements  will  de- 
pend upon  my  father  and  you."  Joseph  Alston 
was  no  laggard  in  love.  In  the  New  York  Com- 
mercial Advertiser  of  February  7, 1801,  we,  there- 
fore, find  this  notice: 


IN    THE    EARLY   REPUBLIC    323 

"  MARRIED —At  Albany,  on  the  2nd  instant, 
by  the  Rev.  Mr.  Johnson,  Joseph  Alston  of 
South  Carolina,  to  Theodosia  Burr,  only  child 
of  Aaron  Burr,  Esq." 

Before  the  marriage  Theodosia  had  told  her 
lover  that  some  of  her  friends,  who  had  visited 
Charleston,  had  described  it  as  a  city  of  yellow 
fever  and  extreme  heat,  where  the  men  were  so 
absorbed  in  hunting,  gaming  and  racing  that 
the  women  scarcely  ever  enjoyed  their  society 
and  had  no  pleasures  but  to  come  together  in 
large  parties,  sip  tea  and  look  prim.  Alston  had 
thereupon  sworn  that  he  would  be  ever  at  her 
side;  and  events  proved  that  he  had  not  spoken 
falsely.  Their  marriage  was  a  singularly  happy 
one,  indeed,  and  though  Theodosia  never  ceased 
to  yearn  for  her  father's  companionship,  she 
was  able  to  assure  her  husband  "  Where  you  are, 
there  is  my  country,  and  in  you  are  centred  all 
my  wishes."  Yet  she  was  undoubtedly  in 
better  health  and  spirits  when  at  the  North; 
the  climate  of  South  Carolina  did  not  agree  with 
her,  try  as  she  would  to  make  the  best  of  it. 
In  the  sultry  summers  she  fled  to  the  mountains 
and  in  the  winter  she  was  admired,  caressed 
and  sought  after  in  Charleston  not  only  for 
her  husband's  and  father's  sake  but  also  for  her 
own.  Burr  was  now  Vice-President,  of  course, 
and  at  the  very  height  of  his  popularity.  For  no 


324  ROMANTIC   DAYS 

child  ever  born  in  America  did  the  prospects  seem 
more  brilliant  than  for  his  grandson  and  name- 
sake, born  in  the  home  of  the  Alstons  on  June 
29,  1802  —  just  before  Theodosia  was  twenty. 

Theodosia's  twenty-first  birthday  may  be 
said  to  mark  the  beginning  of  her  years  of  sad- 
ness. Her  father  celebrated  the  day  with  a 
dinner-party  at  Richmond  Hill  for  which  he 
had  her  portrait  taken  down  from  the  wall  and 
placed  in  her  chair  at  the  table.  '  We  laughed 
an  hour,  danced  an  hour  and  drank  your  health," 
he  wrote.  But  before  this  letter  reached  her 
the  tragedy  of  Weehawken  had  been  enacted 
and  Burr's  sun  had  started  to  set.  In  several 
ways,  it  now  developed  that  the  bright  prospects 
of  Hamilton's  slayer  were  illusory  in  the  extreme. 
His  property  had  been  supposed  to  be  worth  two 
hundred  thousand  dollars;  but  he  was  found 
to  be  very  deeply  in  debt.  Moreover,  his  politi- 
cal position,  —  even  before  the  duel,  —  was 
scarcely  less  hollow  than  his  social  eminence. 
For  Jefferson  had  determined  that  Aaron  Burr 
should  not  be  his  successor  in  the  office  of  Presi- 
dent. To  Theodosia,  however,  it  merely  seemed 
that  luck  was  against  her  father  and,  of  course, 
her  womanly  loyalty  and  tenderness  was  more 
than  ever  stimulated  in  his  behalf. 

In  December,  1805,  Burr  made  the  acquaint- 
ance of  the  Blennerhassetts  and  enlisted  their 
interest,  as  he  had  already  enlisted  that  of 


IN    THE   EARLY   REPUBLIC    325 

Alston  and  Theodosia,  in  his  Mexican  scheme. 
For  years  it  was  supposed  that  Blennerhassett 
had  some  deep  political  reason  for  wishing  to 
join  Burr's  "  conspiracy,"  but  in  an  article 
not  long  ago  put  out,  by  Therese  Blennerhassett 
Adams,1  a  connection,  it  is  disclosed  that  the 
real  reason  Blennerhassett  so  avidly  joined  in 
the  scheme  was  because  he  wished  to  remove 
himself  even  further  from  those  who  knew  him : 
Harman  Blennerhassett  had  been  forced  by  his 
marriage  with  his  own  niece,  the  daughter  of 
his  sister  Catherine,  to  give  up  his  position  and 
his  patrimony  in  his  own  country.  And  though 
there  were  only  a  few  on  this  side  of  the  water 
who  knew  his  sad  history,  he  stood  in  constant 
dread  lest  the  real  facts  of  the  case  come  to 
the  knowledge  of  his  children.  For  this  reason 
he  was  glad  to  join  Burr.  The  Blennerhassetts 
were  always  very  happy  together,  it  might  here 
be  added,  and  the  story  that  Burr  destroyed  their 
domestic  peace  should  be  branded  as  another 
of  the  fictions  of  history. 

Their  story  would  seem  to  be  sufficiently 
strange  and  startling  without  recourse  to  fiction. 
The  man,  at  the  age  of  thirty -one  and  when  heir 
to  a  splendid  estate  in  Ireland,  had  been  sent 
to  escort  home  from  school  the  daughter  of  his 
sister.  But  falling  in  love  with  her,  he  married 
her  instead !  She  was  only  eighteen  at  the  time 

1  Century  Magazine,  July,  1901. 


326  ROMANTIC   DAYS 

and  so,  of  course,  was  far  less  blamed  than  he. 
But  she  refused  to  give  up  the  mate  her  heart 
had  chosen  and  so,  selling  his  property  in  Ire- 
land, Blennerhassett  sailed  with  her  for  America. 
The  establishment  they  set  up  on  their  island 
in  the  Ohio  represented  an  investment  of  $60,000, 
and  perhaps  the  most  blameworthy  act  of  Burr's 
life  was  that,  through  his  Mexican  scheme,  he 
embarrassed  these  people  who  had  such  great 
need  of  wealth  to  soften  the  sorrows  of  their  life. 
(The  Blennerhassetts  had  five  children;  in 
these  days  of  "  eugenics  "  there  is  perhaps  no 
need  to  add  that,  of  the  five,  not  one  turned  out 
a  comfort  to  the  parents.  '  The  fathers  have 
eaten  sour  grapes,  and  the  children's  teeth  are 
set  on  edge.") 

To  Theodosia  and  her  husband  Burr's  arrest, 
as  a  result  of  this  Mexican  venture,  came  as 
a  great  shock.  They  stood  valiantly  by  him, 
however,  as  he  was  tried  for  treason  before 
Chief  Justice  Marshall  at  Richmond,  and  their 
loyalty  had  scarcely  less  to  do  than  Luther 
Martin's  eloquence  with  Burr's  acquittal.  Mar- 
tin was  one  of  the  foremost  geniuses  of  the  Mary- 
land bar  at  this  period  and  his  respect  for  Mrs. 
Alston  was  profound.  Blennerhassett  once  said 
in  this  connection,  "  I  find  that  Luther  Martin's 
idolatrous  admiration  of  Mrs.  Alston  is  almost 
as  excessive  as  my  own,  but  far  more  beneficial 
to  his  interests  and  injurious  to  his  judgment, 


HARMAN   BLENNERHASSETT. 

From  a  miniature  in  the  possession  of  Dr.  Francis  Coffin  Martin 
of  Boston. 


THE    NAG'S   HEAD   PORTRAIT   OF   THEODOSIA   BURR  (?). 

From  the  original  in  the  possession  of  Mrs.  John  P.  Overman,  Elizabeth  City,  Xorth 

Carolina. 


IN    THE    EARLY   REPUBLIC    327 

as  it  is  the  medium  of  his  blind  attachment  to 
her  father,  whose  secrets  and  views,  past,  present 
and  to  come,  he  is  and  wishes  to  remain  ignorant 
of.  Nor  can  he  see  a  speck  in  the  character  of 
Alston,  for  the  best  of  reasons  with  him  —  namely 
that  Alston  has  such  a  wife." 

But  though  Burr  was  acquitted  he  was  a 
persona  non  grata  in  America.  The  following 
year,  therefore,  he  prepared  to  sail  for  Europe. 
In  advance  of  his  departure,  Theodosia  journeyed 
to  New  York  for  the  purpose  of  arranging  that 
the  debts  due  him  should  come  to  her.  She 
would  then  remit  to  him.  Burr  was  gay  and 
confident  to  the  last  and  they  parted  in  high 
spirits  —  at  any  rate  his  spirits  were  high  — 
on  June  7,  1808.  They  never  saw  each  other 
again!  That  summer  Theodosia  spent  at  Sara- 
toga and  the  following  winter  she  passed  in 
retirement  in  New  York.  Her  father's  history, 
during  the  next  four  years,  may  be  followed  in 
detail  by  perusing  the  Diary  in  which  he  records 
his  adventures  in  the  various  courts  of  Europe. 
To  read  this  book  as  recently  published  in  full 
for  the  delectation  of  bibliophiles,  is  to  under- 
stand the  Aaron  Burr  of  the  early  nineteenth 
century  and  to  catch  a  glimpse,  too,  of  the  man 
he  subsequently  became.  The  writer  of  the 
Diary  is  a  less  noble  figure  than  the  fond  father 
who  directed  Theodosia's  early  education.  But 
he  is  by  no  means  a  despicable  person.  He  made 


328  ROMANTIC   DAYS 

it  a  rule  never  to  accept  an  invitation  to  a 
meal  unless  he  had  the  means  to  buy  one  for 
himself  and  he  held  to  this  even  when  it  meant, 
as  it  sometimes  did,  going  hungry  because  re- 
mittances from  home  had  failed  to  reach  him. 
Charles  Felton  Pidgin  has  taken  the  trouble 
to  reduce  to  statistical  form  the  social  attentions 
Burr  chronicles  in  the  Diary  and  he  finds  that 
in  four  years  he  had  52  invitations  to  breakfast, 
199  to  dinner,  and  67  to  luncheon,  tea  or  supper. 
His  rides  and  walks  by  invitation  numbered 
46;  there  were  166  persons  who  called  upon 
him,  and  he  made  653  visits  of  a  business  or 
social  nature.  So  it  cannot  truthfully  be  said 
that  Burr  was  either  an  outcast  or  a  recluse 
during  his  sojourn  in  Europe. 

For  Theodosia,  meanwhile,  life  was  very  sad 
indeed.  '  The  world,"  we  find  her  writing  to 
her  father,  "  begins  to  cool  terribly  around  me. 
You  would  be  surprised  how  many  I  supposed 
attached  to  me  have  abandoned  the  sorry  losing 
game  of  disinterested  friendship."  Besides  the 
cooling  of  old  friends  Theodosia  now  for  the 
first  time  experienced  real  need  of  money! 
The  embargo  had  reduced  the  rice  planters  to 
want  and  Alston  had  lost  in  the  Mexican  venture 
funds  that  he  would  now  have  been  very  glad 
to  command.  (This  is  the  money  which  he 
forgave  Burr  in  his  will.)  Moreover,  the  young 
wife's  health  was  in  a  precarious  state  —  and 


IN    THE    EARLY   REPUBLIC    329 

the  letters  from  her  father  were  infrequent  and 
discouraging. 

Burr  would  by  now  have  been  very  glad  to 
come  home  but  he  found  great  difficulty  in  se- 
curing the  necessary  passport.  The  most  potent 
factor  in  facilitating  his  long-delayed  return  was 
probably  a  letter  which  Theodosia  wrote  Mrs. 
Madison,  in  her  father's  behalf,  a  few  months 
after  Madison's  elevation  to  the  Presidency. 
Burr,  it  will  be  recalled,  had  introduced  Madison 
to  the  Widow  Todd.  So  at  length  the  exile 
was  permitted  to  sail  for  home,  landing  in  Boston, 
penniless  but  with  good  courage,  early  in  June, 
1812. 

This  was  to  be  the  saddest  year  of  the  man's 
whole  life,  a  year  full  enough  to  him  of  sorrow 
to  serve  as  punishment,  were  such  needed, 
for  any  good  thing  he  had  ever  left  undone  and 
for  all  the  bad  deeds  —  many  or  few  —  his 
hot  blood  and  over-sanguine  temperament  had 
led  him  to  commit.  For  in  the  first  letter  which 
he  received,  after  he  arrived  in  New  York, 
he  learned  that  Aaron  Burr  Alston,  his  much- 
loved  grandson,  had  ceased  to  be.  And  ere  he 
had  rallied  from  this  blow  he  learned  that  the 
ship  in  which  his  daughter  had  sailed  from 
Georgetown,  South  Carolina,  to  bid  him  welcome 
home  in  New  York,  had  been  lost  at  sea,  no  man 
knowing  aught  of  its  mysterious  fate!  Theo- 
dosia was  ill,  as  has  already  been  said,  and  her, 


330  ROMANTIC   DAYS 

father,  being  unable  to  obtain  a  satisfactory 
report  of  her  condition,  sent  down  to  her  a  med- 
ical friend,  who  soon  reported,  "  I  have  engaged 
a  passage  to  New  York  for  your  daughter  in 
a  pilot-boat  that  has  been  out  privateering  but 
has  come  in  here  and  is  refitting  merely  to  get 
to  New  York.  My  only  fears  are  that  Governor 
Alston  [Theodosia's  husband  was  now  the  chief 
official  of  his  State]  may  think  the  mode  of 
conveyance  too  undignified  and  object  to  it; 
but  Mrs.  Alston  is  fully  bent  on  going.  You 
must  not  be  surprised,"  this  letter  concludes, 
"  to  see  her  very  low,  feeble  and  emaciated. 
Her  complaint  is  an  almost  incessant  nervous 
fever."  This  was  the  time,  it  will  be  recalled, 
of  our  second  war  with  England.  Theodosia's 
husband,  therefore,  could  not  leave  his  post  of 
duty  to  accompany  his  wife  north,  as  he  would, 
under  ordinary  circumstances,  have  done.  But 
her  maid  was  with  her  as  was  also  an  old  friend 
of  her  father's. 

They  sailed  December  30,  1812,  but  never 
reached  the  port  for  which  they  embarked. 
A  violent  storm  swept  the  coast  on  the  following 
day  and  it  was  long  supposed  that  the  Patriot 
with  all  on  board  went  down  off  Cape  Hatteras. 
Not  until  weeks  and  months  of  despairing  si- 
lence had  elapsed  did  husband  and  father  aban- 
don all  hope,  however;  and  during  this  period 
of  maddening  suspense  Aaron  Burr  acquired  a 


IN    THE    EARLY   REPUBLIC    331 

habit  which  clung  to  him  to  the  end  of  his  life  — 
that  of  walking  on  the  Battery  for  hours  at 
a  time  wistfully  scanning  the  horizon  for  the 
ship  that  did  not  come. 

In  a  letter  of  farewell  to  her  husband  which 
Theodosia  had  written  five  years  earlier,  on  an 
occasion  when  the  former  was  away  from  home 
and  she  despondent  and  ill,  there  is  a  passage 
which  runs,  "  Let  my  father  see  my  son  some- 
times. Do  not  be  unkind  towards  him  whom  I 
have  loved  so  much.  Burn  all  my  papers  except 
my  father's  letters  which  I  beg  you  to  return 
him.  Adieu,  my  sweet  boy.  Love  your  father; 
be  grateful  and  affectionate  to  him  while  he 
lives;  be  the  pride  of  his  meridian,  the  support 
of  his  departing  days.  Be  all  that  he  wishes 
for  he  made  your  mother  happy."  This  letter 
was  found  by  Burr,  two  or  three  years  after 
Theodosia's  disappearance,  in  a  chest  of  her  be- 
longings which  Alston  had  sent  him,  and  was 
read,  it  will  easily  be  understood,  with  a  breaking 
heart. 

And  now  we  come  to  the  strangest  and  sad- 
dest chapter  of  Theodosia's  whole  history,  that 
which  is  often  referred  to  as  her  "  supposed  fate." 
For  many  years,  as  has  been  said,  it  was  be- 
lieved that  the  vessel  in  which  she  embarked 
had  been  lost  at  sea.  But,  about  1833,  through 
the  confession  made  to  his  doctor  by  a  dying 
man  in  Mobile,  Alabama,  the  story  first  became 


332  ROMANTIC    DAYS 

current  that  the  lost  vessel  had  been  captured 
by  pirates  and  Mrs.  Alston,  among  others, 
made  to  "  walk  the  plank."  No  confirmation 
of  this  story  was  obtained  at  the  time  and  very 
little  credence  was  placed  in  it.  Some  forty 
years  later,  however,  Charles  Gayarre,  author 
of  the  History  of  Louisiana  and  other  well- 
known  works,  put  out  a  novel  entitled  Fer- 
nando de  Lemos,  in  which  the  pirate  incident 
received  fictional  treatment.  A  Dr.  Rhine- 
berg  is  called,  in  the  story,  to  the  dying 
pirate,  Dominique  You,  who,  when  told  that 
his  disease  leaves  him  only  a  few  days  to  live, 
confesses  painfully  that  "  on  the  3d  of  January, 
1813,  .  .  .  in  the  latitude  of  Cape  Hatteras 
on  the  coast  of  North  Carolina,  I  and  my  fellow- 
pirates  had  met  a  small  schooner  named  the 
Patriot,  which  had  been  dismantled  by  a  late 
storm.  .  .  .  The  officers  of  the  vessel  were 
slaughtered  and  thrown  overboard  with  the 
rest  of  the  crew.  After  this  execution  my  men 
rushed  down  below  and  brought  up  to  the  deck 
a  woman  of  surpassing  beauty,  deadly  pale, 
but  showing  no  other  signs  of  terror.  She  looked 
at  us  with  a  sort  of  serene  haughtiness,  which 
was  truly  wonderful.  She  made  such  an  im- 
pression on  me,  that  I  can  almost  fancy  her 
now  standing  in  this  chamber  precisely  as 
she  stood  on  that  deck. 

"  '  Who  are  you?  '  I  said  to  her. 


"  '  Theodosia  Burr,  the  daughter  of  Aaron 
Burr,  ex-vice-president  of  the  United  States, 
and  wife  of  Joseph  Alston,  governor  of  South 
Carolina,'  came  the  calm  answer." 

And  then,  having  with  difficulty  restrained  his 
men  from  visiting  upon  poor  Theodosia  a  fate 
worse  than  death,  the  pirate  in  this  story  con- 
tinues, "  I  had  the  plank  laid  out.  She  stepped 
on  it  and  descended  into  the  sea  with  graceful 
composure,  as  if  she  had  been  alighting  from  a 
carriage." 

Rather  surprisingly,  the  incorporation  of  this 
incident  into  a  widely-circulated  romance  ap- 
pears not  to  have  had  much  influence  upon  the 
public  mind.  It  did,  however,  have  the  effect  of 
bringing  to  public  attention,  in  1879,  through  the 
Washington  Post,  the  following  story,  vouched 
for  by  Mrs.  Stella  Edwards  Pierpont  Drake:  "In 
1850,  an  old  man,1  who,  years  before,  had  been 
a  sailor,  an  occupant  of  the  Cass  County  Poor- 
house,  Cassopolis,  Michigan,  in  conversing  with 
a  lady,  the  wife  of  a  Methodist  minister,  about 
his  past  life,  filled  with  wrong-doing  and  crime, 
said  that  the  act  which  caused  him  the  most 
remorse  was  the  tipping  of  the  plank  on  which 
Mrs.  Alston,  the  daughter  of  Aaron  Burr, 
walked  into  the  ocean.  Said  he:  'I  was  a  sailor 
on  a  pirate  vessel.  We  captured  the  vessel  in 
which  the  lady  was.  When  told  she  must  walk 

1  This  man's  name  was  Benjamin  F.  Burdick. 


334  ROMANTIC   DAYS 

the  plank  into  the  ocean  she  asked  for  a  few 
moments  alone,  which  was  granted.  She  came 
forward,  when  told  her  time  had  expired,  dressed 
beautifully  in  white,  the  loveliest  woman  I 
had  ever  seen.  Calmly  she  stepped  upon  the 
plank.  With  eyes  raised  to  the  heavens  and 
hands  crossed  reverently  upon  her  bosom,  she 
walked  slowly  and  firmly  into  the  ocean,  with- 
out an  apparent  tremor.  Had  I  refused  to  per- 
form my  work,  as  I  wish  with  all  my  heart  I 
had,  my  death  would  have  been  sure  and  cer- 
tain.' 

"  This,"  concludes  Mrs.  Drake,  "  is  the  testi- 
mony of  an  almost  dying  man,  the  confession 
of  the  most  terrible  act  of  his  life.  It  seems  to 
me,  when  an  old  man,1  bemoaning  his  life, 
filled  with  sin,  makes  such  a  confession,  without 
any  provocation  whatever  than  the  unburdening 
of  his  soul  during  his  preparation  for  another 
life  —  for  death  came  soon  after  —  that  there 
must  be  truth  in  his  statement.  The  lady  to 
whom  the  confession  was  made  repeated  to  my 
grandmother,  whose  maiden  name  was  Mary 
Edwards,  and  who  was  a  cousin  of  Aaron  Burr, 
the  story  as  I  have  told  it,  as  she  had  frequently 
heard  her  speak  of  the  mystery  concerning  the 
death  of  Mrs.  Alston." 

Fifteen  years  later  the  New  York  Mail  and 

1  Burdick  told  substantially  the  same  story  to  a  Mrs.  McComber 
with  whom  he  lived  during  his  declining  years. 


IN   THE   EARLY   REPUBLIC    335 

Express  copied  and  so  gave  wide  publicity  to 
a  new  version  of  the  "  pirate's  story."  Miss 
Bettie  F.  Pool,  it  appears,  had  just  published 
in  Worthingtons  Magazine  an  article  setting 
forth  that  there  had  recently  come  to  light  on 
the  North  Carolina  coast  a  portrait  which  there 
was  strong  reason  to  believe  was  one  which 
the  ill-starred  Theodosia  Alston  was  taking 
with  her  to  her  father  on  the  vessel  whose  ul- 
timate fate  had  never  been  determined.  This 
portrait  had  been  found  by  the  late  Dr.  W.  C. 
Pool  at  Nag's  Head,  North  Carolina,  in  1869, 
through  a  Mrs.  Mann  of  that  place  whom  he 
had  professionally  attended  and  who  said  the 
picture  had  been  given  to  her,  years  before, 
by  her  first  husband,  one  Tillett,  once  a  mem- 
ber of  a  piratical  crew.  Various  members  of 
the  Burr  and  Edwards  families  to  whom  Dr. 
Pool  sent  photographs  of  the  portrait  pronounced 
it,  almost  without  exception,  a  likeness  of 
Theodosia  Alston. 

From  this  time  on  many  variations  of  the 
story  appeared,  the  shortest  and  clearest  being 
perhaps  the  following,  printed  in  the  New  York 
Times  of  July  2,  1901,  over  the  signature  of 
Alexander  Quarles  Holladay,  LL.  D.,  who  has 
since  died :  "  Dr.  William  Pool,  who  died  a 
few  years  ago,  a  distinguished  physician  of 
Elizabeth  City,  North  Carolina,  was  for  many 
years  in  the  habit  of  spending  some  weeks  of 


336 

summer  at  Nag's  Head,1  a  surf -bathing  resort 
on  the  narrow  strip  of  sand  known  as  the  Pen- 
insula, separating  the  great  inner  sounds  of 
North  Carolina  from  the  Atlantic.  Near  this 
little  summer  village,  years  ago,  lived  in  sullen, 
suspicious  seclusion  Mrs.  Tillett,  the  aged 
widow  of  Joseph  Tillett,  who,  as  far  back  as 
1808,  held  a  sort  of  eminence  among  his  fellow- 
wreckers  and  fishermen,  and  who  died  before 
1850. 

"  It  so  happened  during  one  of  Dr.  Pool's 
sojourns  at  Nag's  Head  that  his  professional 
skill  saved  the  life  of  the  granddaughter  of  Mrs. 
Tillett,  the  only  creature  for  whom  her  mo- 
rose old  age  seemed  to  feel  strong  affection,  and 
from  this  time  the  aged  woman  exhibited  some 
feeling  of  gratitude  toward  the  generous  doctor, 
who,  with  each  returning  summer,  renewed  his 
acquaintance,  often  ministering  to  her  wants 
and  infirmities.  At  last  she  told  him  that  she 
would  not  live  to  see  him  return  and  she  wished 
to  give  him  the  only  thing  she  possessed  that 
he  might  value  as  a  small  acknowledgment  of 
his  long-continued  kindness  to  her,  and  to  his 
surprise  she  placed  in  his  hands  a  well-painted 
and  handsome  portrait  of  a  high-bred  lady,  of 
which,  in  answer  to  his  urgent  inquiry,  she 

1  That  wreckers  formerly  lived  in  this  little  coast  settlement  is 
certain.  The  very  name  of  the  place,  Nag's  Head,  came  from  the 
fact  that  they  used  a  lantern  hung  from  the  neck  of  an  old  nag  (who 
was  then  led  up  and  down  the  beach)  to  decoy  passing  craft. 


IN   THE   EARLY   REPUBLIC    337 

reluctantly  gave  this  account  as  coming  from 
her  former  husband,  Joseph  Tillett."  And  then 
followed  the  story  of  a  lost  ship  with  any  crimi- 
nal share  Tillett  might  have  had  in  the  scuttling 
of  it  carefully  omitted.  "  Dr.  Pool  never  felt 
sure,"  the  writer  of  the  article  says,  "  that  he 
had  been  told  the  whole  truth."  He  concludes: 
'  The  portrait  still  hangs  on  the  walls  of  the 
old  Pool  residence  in  Elizabeth  City,  and.  is  in 
the  possession  of  gentle  people  who  will  not 
refuse  inspection  of  it  to  any  serious  inquirer." 
The  daughter  of  the  painter  Sully,  herself 
a  sculptor,  once  pronounced  this  portrait  to 
be  clearly  of  Theodosia  Burr  Alston,  it  is  inter- 
esting to  know,  and  various  other  authorities 
have  confirmed  her  view.  Those  who  are  in- 
terested to  follow  all  the  details  of  the  contro- 
versy excited  by  the  "  pirate  confessions " 
and  by  the  "  claims  for  the  portrait  "  are  re- 
ferred to  C.  F.  Pidgin's  painstaking  review  of 
the  whole  matter  in  his  book,  Theodosia.  The 
portrait  itself  is  still  in  an  excellent  state  of 
preservation  and  is  now  owned  by  Dr.  Pool's 
daughter,  Mrs.  Overman  of  Elizabeth  City, 
North  Carolina,  who  has  courteously  sent  me 
the  photograph  of  it  herewith  reproduced. 


CHAPTER  VI 

RICHMOND  AND  SOME  FAMOUS  VIRGINIAN  HOMES 

AT  the  outbreak  of  the  Revolution  Rich- 
mond was  smaller  than  either  Freder- 
icksburg  or  Norfolk  and  possessed  far 
less  importance;  its  sole  claim  to  be  a  capital 
lay  in  its  geographical  situation.  St.  John's 
Church,  on  the  hill,  and  Col.  Byrd's  residence, 
Belvidere,  were  the  only  impressive  buildings 
then  to  be  seen  as  one  approached  the  place. 
The  settlement  was,  in  very  truth,  but  a  col- 
lection of  disjointed  country  villages  lying  around 
a  central  trading-station.  What  the  city  lacked 
in  splendid  architecture  it  made  up  in  noble 
men,  however,  chief  of  these  being,  of  course, 
Patrick  Henry,  that  extraordinary  figure  whose 
matchless  courage,  fiery  eloquence  and  compell- 
ing magnetism  placed  him,  early  in  his  public 
career,  among  the  undying  heroes  of  our  country. 
It  was  in  old  St.  John's  that  the  second  Vir- 
ginian convention  of  delegates  assembled  in 
March,  1775;  here  it  was,  therefore,  that  Henry 
made  that  great  speech,  with  its  climax,  "  Give 
me  liberty  or  give  me  death,"  thus  stepping 


IN    THE   EARLY   REPUBLIC    339 

forth  "  at  the  appointed  time,  like  one  of  the 
ancient  prophets,  burdened  with  a  message 
of  wisdom  and  hope."  l 

It  was  not,  however,  until  1779,  when  Thomas 
Jefferson  was  chief  officer  of  the  State,  that  the 
seat  of  government  was  removed  from  Williams- 
burg  to  Richmond.  The  foundation  of  the  new 
Capitol  was  laid  August  18,  1785.  Jefferson 
stood  sponsor  for  the  model  which  was  used  — 
that  of  the  Maison  Carree  at  Nimes,  France  — 
considering  that  structure  "  one  of  the  most 
beautiful,  if  not  the  most  beautiful  and  precious 
morsels  of  architecture  left  us  by  antiquity  .  .  . 
very  simple  but  noble  beyond  expression." 
Unfortunately,  the  Richmond  edifice  did  not 
measure  up  to  the  hopes  cherished  for  it;  but  it 
was  far  from  being  a  commonplace  building. 

Very  great  credit  for  the  evolution  of  the 
shabby  little  trading-place  into  a  really  im- 
pressive city  is  due  to  Colonel  John  Mayo,  pro- 
prietor and  founder  of  the  celebrated  Mayo 
Bridge,  just  below  the  falls  of  the  James  River 
at  Richmond.  Colonel  Mayo  obtained  a  charter 
for  this  bridge  in  1785  but,  finding  that  this 

1  Most  of  us  know  Patrick  Henry  only  as  an  orator.  He  was 
that;  "  by  far  the  most  powerful  speaker  I  ever  heard,"  George 
Mason,  himself  a  man  of  great  ability,  pronounced  him.  "  But," 
Mason  continues,  "  his  eloquence  is  the  smallest  part  of  his  merit. 
He  is,  in  my  opinion,  the  first  man  upon  this  continent  as  well  in 
abilities  as  in  public  virtues."  Henry  was  born  at  "  Studley," 
sixteen  miles  from  Richmond,  May  29,  1736. 


340  ROMANTIC   DAYS 

was  all  he  was  likely  to  obtain  from  the  State, 
boldly  built  the  structure  at  his  own  expense, 
being  laughed  at,  the  while,  as  an  ill-balanced 
experimenter.  Only  ridicule  had  greeted  his 
petition  for  a  charter,  one  prominent  member  of 
the  Legislature  observing  "  that  after  passing 
that  bill  he  supposed  they  would  pass  one  to 
build  a  ladder  to  the  moon." 

Colonel  Mayo's  wife  was  Abigail  De  Hart,  of 
Elizabeth  town,  New  Jersey,  and  their  eldest 
daughter,  Maria,  became  the  reigning  belle  of 
the  day.  She  was  a  great  beauty,  wrote  and 
repeated  poetry  charmingly  and  sang  and  played 
exquisitely  on  the  harp.  Moreover,  she  was  so 
fascinating  in  manner  that  one  hundred  suitors 
are  said  to  have  been  refused  by  her  ere  she 
married  General  Winfield  Scott.  Even  he  did 
not  win  her  easily.  She  said  him  nay  as  Mr. 
Scott,  again  as  Captain  Scott,  and  still  again 
as  Colonel  Scott.  But  when  he  came  to  her  as 
General  Scott,  hero  of  Lundy's  Lane,  and  begged 
for  the  honor  of  her  hand,  she  capitulated  and 
they  were  married  at  Bellville,  on  the  evening 
of  March  11,  1817,  to  the  accompaniment  of 
what  a  letter  of  the  times  describes  as  "  splendid 
doings." 

In  a  charming  article  entitled  "  Some  Rich- 
mond Portraits,"  published  in  the  Harper's 
Magazine  for  April,  1885,  there  is  a  little  sketch 
of  Richmond  Society  during  this  period.  The 


IN   THE   EARLY   REPUBLIC    341 

cravat,  we  are  told,  was  an  important  part 
of  a  gentleman's  toilet,  and  a  Richmond  ex- 
quisite "  vested  himself  like  a  silk-worm  in  its 
ample  folds."  His  valet  held  one  end  and  he 
the  other  of  the  long  thin  texture,  the  former 
walking  around  his  master  till  both  ends  met, 
when  they  were  tied  in  a  large  bow.  The  Rich- 
mond exquisite  who  could  not  afford  a  valet 
tied  one  end  of  his  cravat  to  the  bed-post  and 
then  began  the  exercise  which  served  to  equip 
him  with  a  properly  swathed  neck. 

A  highly  entertaining  glimpse  of  Richmond 
social  life  in  1807  is  afforded  by  a  racy  passage 
in  one  of  Washington  Irving's  letters.  "  By 
some  unlucky  means  or  other,"  he  writes,  "  when 
I  first  made  my  appearance  in  Richmond,  I 
got  the  character  among  three  or  four  novel- 
read  damsels  of  being  an  interesting  young  man; 
now  of  all  characters  in  the  world,  believe  me, 
this  is  the  most  intolerable  for  any  young  man, 
who  has  a  will  of  his  own  to  support;  particularly 
in  warm  weather.  The  tender-hearted  fair 
ones  think  you  absolutely  at  their  command; 
they  conclude  that  you  must,  of  course,  be  fond 
of  moonlight  walks  and  rides  at  daybreak, 
and  red-hot  strolls  in  the  middle  of  the  day, 
(Fahrenheit's  Thermom.  98}^  in  the  shade) 
and  *  melting-hot,'  *  hissing-hot '  tea  parties;  and 
what  is  worse  they  expect  you  to  talk  sentiment 
and  act  Romeo,  and  Sir  Charles  and  King  Pepin 


342  ROMANTIC   DAYS 

all  the  while.  'Twas  too  much  for  me;  had  I 
been  in  love  with  any  of  them  I  believe  I  could 
have  played  the  dying  swain  as  eloquently  and 
foolishly  as  most  men;  but  not  having  the  good 
luck  to  be  inspired  by  the  tender  passion,  I 
found  the  slavery  insupportable;  so  I  forthwith 
set  about  ruining  my  character  as  speedily  as 
possible.  I  forgot  to  go  to  tea  parties;  over- 
slept myself  of  a  morning;  I  protested  against 
the  moon  and  derided  that  blessed  planet  most 
villainously.  In  a  word,  I  was  soon  given  up 
as  a  young  man  of  most  preposterous  and  in- 
corrigible opinions,  and  was  left  to  do  e'en  just 
as  I  pleased." 

The  occasion  which  had  brought  Irving  to 
Richmond  was  the  trial  for  treason  of  Aaron 
Burr,  of  which  we  have  heard  in  a  previous 
chapter.  Irving  had  no  connection  of  any  im- 
portance with  this  cause  celebre,  but  the  presiding 
judge,  Chief  Justice  Marshall,  was  a  Richmond 
man  of  such  high  qualities  and  delightful  sim- 
plicity as  must  particularly  have  appealed  to 
a  student  and  writer  of  Irving's  temperament. 
Judge  Marshall  was  wont  to  market  for  himself 
and  might  often  be  seen,  at  an  early  hour,  return- 
ing home  with  a  pair  of  fowls  or  a  basket  of  eggs 
in  his  hand.  For  many  years  he  traveled  the 
nearly  two  hundred  miles  between  Richmond 
and  Raleigh,  where  he  held  Federal  Court,  in  a 
vehicle  known  as  a  "  stick  gig>"  with  one  horse 

\ 


THE   EARLY   REPUBLIC    343 

and  no  attendant.  He  wrote  his  own  epitaph  l 
in  order  that  only  the  bare  facts  of  his  life  should 
there  find  a  place. 

Another  famous  lawyer  who  should  be  con- 
nected with  the  Richmond  of  this  era  —  in- 
spite  of  the  fact  that  we  always  associate  him 
chiefly  with  Kentucky  —  is  Henry  Clay.  Clay 
was  born  in  Hanover  County,  Virginia,  April 
12,  1777,  the  son  of  a  Baptist  minister  who 
died  early.  Thus  it  was  that  the  boy  had  a 
childhood  marked  by  extreme  poverty  and  was 
obliged,  at  fourteen,  to  begin  life  as  a  handy-lad 
in  a  small  retail  store  of  Richmond.  The  study 
of  law  early  began  to  attract  him,  however,  and 
he  was  soon  admitted  to  the  bar.  His  great 
success  in  his  profession  began  soon  after  his 
removal  to  Lexington,  Kentucky,  which  State 
he  represented  in  Washington  for  the  greater 
part  of  the  half  century  between  the  winter  of 
1806,  when  he  was  first  a  senator,  to  the  year 
1852  when  he  died.  He  was  recognized  as  the 
most  distinguished  spokesman  of  the  South  to 
be  found  in  Washington.  Though  not  so  keen 
as  Calhoun  he  possessed  the  rare  faculty  of 
inspiring  his  hearers  by  his  fervid  appeals  and 
filling  them  with  his  own  enthusiasm.  For  the 
election  of  1832  he  was  run  as  candidate  for 

1  Judge  Marshall's  home  at  the  time  of  his  death,  in  1835,  and  for 
many  years  previously,  was  the  two-story  brick  building  (erected 
1795)  at  the  corner  of  9th  and  Marshall  Streets. 


344  ROMANTIC   DAYS 

President  by  the  National   Republican  party 
which  had  been  formed  under  his  leadership. 

The  favorite  amusement  of  Richmond  in 
early  Republican  days  was  loo  and  it  is  sad  to 
add  that  the  Richmond  ladies  played  it  to  excess. 
They  would  meet  at  each  other's  houses  of 
an  afternoon,  enjoy  tea  and  gossip,  and  then 
play  loo  for  stakes  which  often  grew  quite  heavy 
as  the  afternoon  waned.  For,  although  the 
sums  ventured  at  first  were  always  small, 
the  amounts  in  the  pool  were  allowed  to  ac- 
cumulate, until,  with  forfeits,  they  often  to- 
talled seventy -five  or  one  hundred  dollars. 
'  The  practice  of  playing  thus  became  at  last 
a  social  evil;  domestic  duties  were  neglected, 
mothers  forgot  their  children,  wives  rifled  the 
pocket  books  of  their  husbands;  gentlemen 
gambled  away  their  gold  vest-buttons  and  ladies 
their  ear-rings  and  bracelets,  carried  away  by 
the  mad  spirit  of  loo." 

All  the  writers  of  the  period  credit  to  the  burn- 
ing of  the  Richmond  Theatre,  December  26, 
1811,  the  change  from  these  light  and  careless 
ways  to  the  graver  and  more  serious  tone  which 
soon  characterized  Richmond  society.  '  The 
families  seated  on  the  hills,"  one  of  these  writers 
says, "  were  a  polished,  refined,  sociable,  pleasure- 
loving  community,  gathered  from  the  different 
counties  because,  from  time  immemorial,  the 


IN   THE   EARLY   REPUBLIC    345 

wealth  and  fashion  and  beauty  of  Virginia  had 
assembled  at  the  capital,  particularly  at  the 
time  of  the  sessions  of  the  General  Assembly. 
The  theatre  was  one  and  but  one  of  their  oc- 
casional amusements,  and  not  the  one  of  the 
highest  refinement.  An  old-fashioned  Virginia 
dining  party,  select  in  its  company,  unlimited 
in  its  elegant  preparations,  was  unbounded  in 
its  refined  indulgence  of  the  appetite,  and  the 
delicate  attentions  of  social  intercourse.  Here 
was  the  display  of  taste  in  dress,  elegance  in 
manners,  powers  of  conversation  and  every  ac- 
complishment that  adorns  society.  The  theatre 
was  a  promiscuous  gathering  for  a  few  hours, 
less  attractive  than  the  dining  or  dancing  party, 
but  one  of  the  round  of  pleasure  that  occupied 
the  time  of  the  fashionable  and  the  wealthy. 
"  On  that  fatal  night  (December  26,  1811)  the 
benefit  of  an  admired  actor  enlisted  the  feelings 
of  the  community.  Mr.  Smith,  Governor  of  the 
State,  Venable,  president  of  the  Bank  of  Virginia, 
Botts,  an  eminent  lawyer,  members  of  the 
Assembly,  matronly  ladies,  fascinating  belles, 
blooming  girls,  officers  of  the  army  and  navy, 
men  and  youth  from  the  city  and  country, 
were  collected  in  one  splendid  group,  such  as 
a  theatre  seldom  sees.  Alas!  that  such  a  gather- 
ing should  be  for  death,  a  most  terrible  death! 
An  order  was  given  about  the  light.  The  boy 
that  held  the  strings  objected  — '  that  it  would 


346  ROMANTIC   DAYS 

set  the  scenery  on  fire.'  The  order  was  repeated. 
The  boy  obeyed.  And  immediately  the  theatre 
was  in  flames."  l 

Seventy-two  individuals,  the  flower  of  Rich- 
mond and  the  State,  perished  in  this  fire,  and 
since  none  of  the  bereaved  could  recognize 
their  own  dead,  a  common  burial  was  held. 
The  whole  city  was  in  mourning;  and  the  whole 
city  seemed,  too,  with  one  accord  to  acknowledge 
"  God's  providence  in  the  concurrence  of  cir- 
cumstances preceding  the  catastrophe.  The 
gallantry,  and  heroism,  and  blind  fatality  of 
that  suffering  night  have  never  been  surpassed," 
declares  Dr.  Foote,  "  and  never  perhaps  has 
the  sudden  destruction  of  men,  women  and  chil- 
dren in  one  overwhelming  ruin  produced  a 
greater  moral  effect .  All  classes  in  the  communi  ty 
bowed  down  before  the  Lord.  Christians  were 
moved  to  efforts  of  kindness  and  love  that  the  gos- 
pel might  be  preached  abundantly  in  Richmond." 
Up  to  this  time,  rather  curiously,  Richmond 
had  no  church  —  except  the  venerable  and  out- 
of-the-way  St.  John's  —  but  this  lack  of  conven- 
iently-situated edifices  for  the  accommodation 
of  different  faiths  gave  rise  to  a  very  excellent 
custom  —  that  of  using  for  church-worship  the 
Hall  of  the  House  of  Delegates.  Here,  on  al- 
ternate Sundays,  Parson  Buchanan,  an  Epis- 
copalian, and  Parson  Blair,  a  Presbyterian, 
1  Sketches  of  Virginia,  by  Rev.  William  Henry  Foote,  D.  D, 


HENRY    CLAY. 

From  the  portrait  by  S.  F.  B.  Morse  in  the  possession  of  the  Metropolitan  Museum  of  Art, 

New   York. 
Page  343. 


J   fc    ~ 

<!     O      .S 

«os. 

t' 

HH  8 


IN    THE   EARLY   REPUBLIC    347 

presided  over  a  pulpit  which  disappeared  on 
week  days.  And,  such  was  the  spirit  of  toler- 
ance and  liberality  which  their  fraternalism 
inspired,  that  it  soon  came  to  be  the  custom 
for  the  individuals  of  the  two  separate  congre- 
gations to  come  every  Sabbath!  Moreover, 
Mr.  Buchanan,  being  a  bachelor  and  well- 
to-do,  gladly  shared  all  his  fees  with  Mr.  Blair, 
a  married  man  blessed  with  a  large  family. 
Once  an  amusing  joke  was  played  on  the  latter 
by  reason  of  this  custom.  Mr.  Buchanan  had 
gone  thirty  miles  into  the  country  to  perform 
the  marriage  service  and  had  hired  a  carriage  for 
two  days  with  which  to  make  the  journey.  His 
fee  was  ten  dollars.  Whereupon  he  presented 
his  Presbyterian  brother  with  the  following  bill: 

The  Rev.  J.  D.  BLAIR 

To  the  Rev.  J.  BUCHANAN 

To  hire  of  a  carriage  two  days  at  $5  $10 

To  horse  feed  and  other  expenses  to  and  fro          $  3 


$13 
By  wedding  fee  $  5 


Balance  due  to  J.  Buchanan  $  8 

Presbyterians  and  Episcopalians  now  sub- 
scribed with  equal  eagerness  and  generosity  to  the 
Monumental  Church  which  it  was  determined  to 
erect  on  the  site  of  the  theatre,  as  a  memorial 
to  the  fire-victims,  and  for  some  time  it  remained 


348  ROMANTIC   DAYS 

undecided  to  which  form  of  worship  the  resulting 
edifice  should  be  dedicated.  Finally  the  major- 
ity vote  was  cast  in  the  interest  of  the  Epis- 
copalians with  the  result  that,  in  February, 
1814,  Dr.  Moore  of  New  York  was  elected  rector 
of  the  church  and  became  bishop  of  the  diocese. 
But  the  fraternal  feelings  remained  undisturbed, 
Mr.  Buchanan  continuing  to  extend  to  Mr.  Blair's 
successor  the  generous  help  he  insisted  to  be  the 
right  of  a  bachelor  towards  a  brother-pastor 
responsible  for  wife  and  children. 

Among  the  lovely  women  who  had  perished 
in  the  theatre  fire  was  Mrs.  Joseph  Gallego, 
wife  of  a  native  of  Malaga,  Spain,  who,  with 
Jean  Auguste  Chevallie,  had  built  up  the  famous 
Gallego  Mills  of  Richmond.  Chevallie,  whose 
wife  was  the  sister  of  Mrs.  Gallego,  had  first 
come  to  Richmond  in  1790,  as  agent  of  the 
celebrated  Beaumarchais  in  the  latter's  claim 
against  the  United  States  Government  for 
moneys  advanced  during  the  American  Revo- 
lution. This  claim  was  finally  settled  in  1835, 
at  which  time  Beaumarchais's  family  accepted 
about  one-third  of  the  sum  originally  demanded. 
How  there  came  to  be  a  claim  at  all  constitutes 
one  of  the  most  romantic  chapters  *  in  the  un- 
written history  of  the  Revolution. 

1  Some  of  my  readers  may  be  interested  to  look  up  a  paper  of  mine 
on  Franklin  and  the  French  Intriguers,  published  in  Appleton's  Maga- 
zine for  February,  1906. 


THE   EARLY   REPUBLIC    349 

Most  of  us  know  Beaumarchais,  the  talented 
son  of  a  watchmaker,  only  as  author  of  "  The 
Barber  of  Seville"  and  "The  Marriage  of 
Figaro."  But  in  addition  to  being  a  literary 
man  of  parts  Beaumarchais  was  a  "  king's  man," 
one  whose  services  to  Louis  XV  had  been  so 
numerous  and  so  varied  that  his  biographer, 
Lomenie,  was  able  to  win  a  place  among  the 
Immortals  merely  by  chronicling  them.  One 
of  the  most  cherished  traditions  inherited  by 
Louis  XVI  from  his  grandfather  was  that  no- 
body could  perform  difficult  and  delicate  serv- 
ices so  well  as  Beaumarchais. 

The  only  individual  who  surpassed  the  watch- 
maker's son  in  resourcefulness  and  in  skill  as 
a  secret-service  agent  was  that  extraordinary 
person  known  as  the  Chevalier  d'Eon,  who,  be- 
cause he  had  once  served  his  king  at  the  Court 
of  Russia  in  the  disguise  of  a  woman,  has  come 
down  to  us  in  history  as  a  woman  who  pretended 
to  be  a  man.  To  Beaumarchais  d'Eon  "  con- 
fessed," on  a  certain  occasion,  that  he  was  in 
truth  a  woman,  and  to  color  his  assertion  de- 
clared that  he  was  at  that  very  moment  con- 
sumed by  a  passion  for  Beaumarchais !  For  once 
the  tricky  watchmaker  was  tricked !  In  Beau- 
marchais's  subsequent  letters  to  de  Vergennes, 
the  French  Minister  for  Foreign  Affairs,  con- 
cerning the  proposition  that  France  should 
help  America  in  her  struggle  for  independence, 


350  ROMANTIC   DAYS 

there  can  be  found  no  evidence  that  either  in 
the  least  suspected  d'Eon  to  be  deceiving  them. 
Bram  Stoker  asserts  l  that  when  d'Eon  returned 
to  France  modestly  clad  in  coif  and  petticoats 
he  had  assumed  the  female  garb  merely  to 
indulge  a  whim  of  Marie  Antoinette's;  the 
fact  is,  however,  that  d'Eon  was  compelled  by 
Louis  XVI  to  wear  the  clothes  that  "  belonged  ': 
to  his  sex  if  he  wished  to  return  to  France  at 
all!  And  the  interesting  and  curious  thing,  for 
our  present  purpose,  is,  that  it  is  the  king's  order 
directing  Chevalier  d'Eon  to  assume  woman's 
clothes  which  supplies  the  introduction  to  Beau- 
marchais's  accredited  connection  with  the 
American  Revolution.  Beaumarchais  had  pre- 
sented to  the  Count  de  Vergennes  for  replies 
in  the  king's  own  hand  (before  his  departure 
for  London,  December  13,  1775)  a  series  of 
"  essential  points "  regarding  the  Chevalier 
d'Eon's  clothes,  and  on  the  same  paper,  in  the 
course  even  of  the  same  dialogue,  he  passes  to 
the  American  affair  and  seeks  to  gain  by  assault 
the  king's  adhesion  to  plans  with  which  he  had 
been  pursuing  him  for  some  time.  "  Finally 
I  request  before  starting,"  he  writes,  "  a  posi- 
tive answer  to  my  last  note,  for  if  ever  a  question 
was  important  it  must  be  admitted  that  it  is  this 
one."  The  "  question  "  here  alluded  to  was  none 
other  than  that  of  French  help  for  the  Americans. 

1  In  Famous  Impostors. 


IN   THE   EARLY  REPUBLIC    351 

Beaumarchais's  1  desire  to  enlist  France  defi- 
nitely on  the  side  of  America  had  been  greatly 
stimulated  by  certain  talks  he  had  enjoyed  at 
the  London  home  of  John  Wilkes  with  Arthur 
Lee,  that  mischievous  person  of  whom  Franklin 
once  said  superlatively:  "  In  sowing  jealousies 
and  suspicions,  in  creating  quarrels  and  mis- 
understandings among  friends,  in  malice,  subtlety 
and  indefatigable  industry  Arthur  Lee  has,  I 
think,  no  equal."  Lee  made  Beaumarchais 
believe  that  England,  France's  "  natural  enemy," 
must  soon  totter  to  ruins  unless  she  stopped 
making  war  with  America.  He  also  helped  the 
wily  playwright  to  see  that,  for  Beaumarchais, 

1  Beaumarchais  was  in  this  affair  as  in  all  others  a  soldier  of 
fortune.  Chevalier  d'Eon,  on  the  contrary,  was  a  man  of  parts 
whom  Louis  XV  had  been  glad  to  honor  and  to  trust.  Court  in- 
trigues and  the  fact  that  d'Eon  possessed  certain  papers  which 
jealous  rivals  greatly  desired  to  have  in  their  own  hands  inspired 
the  journey  of  Beaumarchais  in  the  course  of  which  came  d'Eon's 
extraordinary  "  confession."  The  Chevalier's  object  in  making  the 
"  confession  "  was  doubtless  that  he  might  wring  better  terms  from 
Beaumarchais.  It  is  possible  that  Beaumarchais,  when  he  learned 
that  he  had  been  duped,  conceived  the  diabolical  idea  of  forcing 
d'Eon  to  remain  a  "  woman,"  or  submit  to  exile.  M.  de  Flassan, 
the  grave  author  of  the  History  of  French  Diplomacy,  asserts  in  his 
volume,  published  in  1809  (the  year  before  d'Eon's  death)  that 
"  this  curious  person  was  possessed  by  a  mania  for  playing  the  part 
of  a  man."  In  his  old  age  d'Eon  taught  sword-play  in  London  for 
a  living,  thus  eking  out  the  pension  of  £40  granted  him  by  George 
III.  He  died  in  May,  1810,  and  his  sex  was  then  indisputably 
established  by  a  post-mortem  examination  of  his  remains,  made  be- 
fore several  witnesses  of  position  and  repute,  in  accordance  with  the 
wishes  of  the  Chevalier's  friends,  who  determined  thus  to  settle  a 
mooted  question  for  all  time. 


352  ROMANTIC   DAYS 

there  would  be  a  fortune,  and  for  him,  Arthur 
Lee,  undying  fame,  if  only  France  could  be  per- 
suaded to  send  munitions  of  war  to  America 
without  seeming  to  take  any  part  in  the  dispute. 
Thus  it  came  about  that  "  Roderigue  Hortalez 
&  Co."  began  to  have  much  business  with  the 
Congress  of  the  United  States;  and  because 
of  Arthur  Lee's  duplicity  Beaumarchais,  the 
leading  member  of  that  firm,  was  soon  forced 
to  employ  an  agent  to  "  collect."  But  what  a 
very  long  way  we  have  wandered  from  Rich- 
mond because  the  sister  of  that  agent's  wife 
was  one  of  the  ladies  who  perished  in  the  burn- 
ing of  the  theatre ! 

Just  before  the  burning  of  the  theatre  the 
mother  of  Edgar  Allan  Poe  was  a  member  of 
the  troupe  of  local  players.  Mrs.  Poe  was  an 
actress  of  very  real  ability,  but  her  health  had 
for  some  years  now  been  failing  and  her  family, 
on  the  verge  of  destitution,  soon  became  an 
object  for  the  charity  of  Richmond  ladies.  In 
the  Enquirer  of  November  29,  1811,  appeared 
the  following  card: 

THE    HUMANE 


"  On  this  night,  Mrs.  Poe  lingering  on  the  bed  of 
disease  and  surrounded  by  her  children,  asks  your  as- 
sistance; and  asks  it  perhaps  for  the  last  time." 

A  few  days  later,  December  8,  she  died  and 
her  two  little  ones,  Edgar  and  Rosalie,  were 


IN    THE    EARLY   REPUBLIC    353 

adopted  into  the  homes  of  Mrs.  Allan,  a  young 
married  woman  of  twenty-five,  and  of  her 
friend,  Mrs.  MacKenzie.  Each  child  soon  re- 
ceived in  baptism,  at  the  hands  of  Dr.  Buchanan, 
the  family  name  of  the  home  thus  extended. 

John  Allan,  who  had  constituted  himself 
Edgar's  guardian,  was  in  the  tobacco  business, 
and  so  prospered,  as  Richmond's  trade  in  this 
commodity  increased,  that  in  1815,  he  went 
over  to  London  to  establish  a  branch  office. 
Thus  it  came  about  that  the  impressionable 
dark-eyed  lad  who  had  won  his  wife's  heart,  had 
the  benefit  for  several  formative  years  of  English 
schooling  and  an  English  environment.  The  year 
1820  found  Poe  back  in  the  Virginian  city,  how- 
ever, and  it  was  there  that  the  early  years  of  his 
young  manhood  were  passed.  Woodberry  1  has 
a  charming  chapter  on  the  family  of  which  he 
was  at  this  time  a  part  and  on  the  life  he  led 
with  them.  '  The  Allans,"  we  learn,  "  be- 
longed to  the  most  cultivated  and  agreeable 
society  that  Virginia  knew  in  the  days  of  her 
old-fashioned  and  justly-famed  courtesy  and 
hospitality  and  a  boyhood  spent  in  association 
with  such  gentlemen  as  Edgar  constantly  and 
familiarly  met  could  not  fail  to  be  both  pleasant 
and  of  the  highest  utility  in  forming  both  manner 
and  character.  ...  In  his  home  life  he  was 
indulged  by  the  ladies  of  the  family  and  the 

lLife  of  Edgar  Allan  Poe,  Vol.  I. 


354  ROMANTIC   DAYS 

servants  as  a  pet  of  the  house.  .  .  .  For  he 
was  always  a  favorite  with  women." 

The  first  Mrs.  Allan  died  during  the  West 
Point  training  upon  which  Edgar  soon  embarked, 
and  her  husband  married,  in  October,  1830,  a 
lady  who  promptly  presented  him  with  a  son 
and  heir  of  his  own  blood.  This  event  marked 
the  end  of  Poe's  intimate  connection  with  Rich- 
mond; for  very  soon  now  he  went  forth  to  make 
his  own  way  in  the  world. 

A  very  romantic  love-affair  of  Richmond  in 
early  Republican  days  was  that  of  Maria  Ward 
and  John  Randolph  of  Roanoke.  The  attach- 
ment began  in  Randolph's  early  boyhood  and 
became,  according  to  the  writer  1  already  re- 
ferred to,  "  the  one  enthralling  passion  of  Ran- 
dolph's manhood,  filling  his  whole  being,  until, 
as  he  himself  said,  *  he  loved  her  better  than  his 
own  soul  or  Him  that  created  it.'  '  A  picture 
of  Randolph,  made  at  the  period  when  he  .was 
the  accepted  lover  of  Maria  Ward,  shows  him 
to  have  been,  then,  a  singularly  handsome  youth, 
with  dark  and  luminous  eyes  and  a  profusion 
of  soft  black  hair  which  would  have  gone  far, 
had  he  been  much  less  Indian  in  other  ways  than 
he  proved  himself,  to  establish  his  direct  descent 
from  Pocahontas.  But  though  he  was  a  hand- 
some youth  and  though  his  wooing  of  Maria 
Ward  was  long  and  ardent  he  was  never  to  have 

1  Of  Some  Richmond  Portraits. 


IN    THE    EARLY   REPUBLIC    355 

the  happiness  of  calling  her  his  wife.  Why  their 
engagement  came  abruptly  to  an  end  no  one 
knows.  But  one  day  they  parted  abruptly 
after  an  interview  marked  on  her  part  by  tears 
and  on  his  by  a  furious  galloping  away  for  all 
time  from  the  house  which  was  her  home. 

They  never  met  again;  but,  one  day,  learn- 
ing that  she  was  staying  at  a  house  in  the  neigh- 
borhood, he  lingered  long  on  the  porch  to  hear 
her  sing  the  songs  they  two  had  loved.  And 
while  she,  all  unconscious  of  his  nearness, 
rendered  one  after  another,  the  tender  ballads 
associated  with  their  courtship  he  strode  up  and 
down  outside  like  a  madman  muttering,  in  the 
anguish  of  his  heart,  "  Macbeth  hath  murdered 
sleep;  Macbeth  can  sleep  no  more."  Maria 
Ward  married  Peyton  Randolph,  son  of  Ed- 
mund Randolph,  who  had  been  Governor  of 
Virginia  and  Secretary  of  State  under  Washing- 
ton. She  died  in  1826,  still  as  lovely  as  a  girl 
though  then  forty-two.  Her  discarded  lover 
continued  to  be  a  somewhat  violent  person. 
He  once  came  in  contact,  while  in  Congress, 
with  Thomas  Mann  Randolph,  who  had  married 
Jefferson's  daughter  Martha.  So  bitter  were 
the  words  exchanged  in  their  debate  that  a 
duel  was  arranged  between  them  but  the  actual 
encounter  was,  happily,  prevented. 

Lafayette's  return  to  Richmond,  in  1824, 
was  a  signal  for  great  rejoicing  and  for  very  elab- 


356  ROMANTIC   DAYS 

orate  entertainment.  For  the  ball  given  in 
his  honor  the  quadrangle  formed  by  the  sur- 
rounding buildings  and  galleries  of  the  Eagle 
Hotel  was  floored  over  and  covered  with  awnings. 
Yet  it  was  to  quite  another  part  of  Virginia  that 
Lafayette  turned  with  greatest  eagerness  —  to 
the  home  on  the  Potomac  where,  a  few  years 
previously,  he  had  visited  Washington  in  his 
retirement.  The  great  General  was  now  no 
more  but,  for  a  few  solemn  moments,  Lafayette 
stood  inside  the  enclosure  of  the  tomb  near 
the  river  alone  with  the  ashes  of  his  revered 
friend.  To  George  Washington  Lafayette 
Mount  Vernon  had  been  a  hospitable  home 
during  the  troubled  period  of  the  French  Revo- 
lution, its  stately  owner  having  then  borne  to 
him  the  relation  of  a  tender  guardian. 

To  none  of  the  young  Frenchmen,  indeed, 
who,  at  this  period  of  France's  history  —  or 
earlier  —  came  to  America  does  Washington 
appear  to  have  been  indifferent.  Louis  Philippe 
and  his  two  brothers  and  the  Due  de  Roche- 
foucauld-Liancourt  were  among  the  General's 
most  welcome  visitors.  The  latter  probably 
particularly  pleased  Washington  by  his  sturdy 
declaration:  "In  the  days  of  my  power, 
under  the  ancient  regime  of  France,  I  had 
fifty  servants  to  wait  upon  me,  but  yet  my  coat 
was  never  as  well  brushed  as  now  that  I  do  it 
myself."  It  was  this  nobleman,  it  will  be  re- 


IN    THE    EARLY   REPUBLIC    357 

membered,  who  had  taken  to  Louis  XVI  at  Ver- 
sailles news  of  the  storming  of  the  Bastille,  and 
to  that  monarch's  exclamation,  "  It  is  a  revolt!  " 
had  replied  tersely,  "  Sire,  it  is  a  revolution!  " 

That  this  young  Duke  had  the  gift  of  writing 
as  well  as  that  of  repartee  we  find  from  his  book 
describing  his  travels  in  America.  Particularly 
keen  were  his  observations  and  comments  on 
Virginian  home  life.  "  The  Virginians  generally," 
he  declared,  "  enjoy  a  character  for  hospitality 
which  they  truly  deserve;  they  are  fond  of 
company;  their  hospitality  is  sincere,  and  may 
perhaps  be  the  reason  for  their  spending  more 
than  they  should  do;  for,  in  general  they  are 
not  rich,  especially  in  clear  income.  You  find 
therefore,  very  frequently,  a  table  well  served 
and  covered  with  plate,  in  a  room  where  half 
the  windows  have  been  broken  for  ten  years 
past,  and  will  probably  remain  so  ten  years 
longer.  But  few  houses  are  in  a  tolerate  state 
of  repair  and  no  part  of  their  buildings  is  kept 
better  than  the  stables,  because  the  Virginians  are 
fond  of  hunting,  races,  and  in  short  of  all  pleas- 
ures and  amusements  that  render  it  necessary 
to  take  peculiar  care  of  horses,  which  are  the 
fashion  of  the  day."  1 

Another  observant  Frenchman,  writing  at 
about  the  same  time,  claims  that  the  only  thing 
for  which  an  average  Virginian  gentleman  would 

1  Travels  Through  the  United  States,  1795-97:  London,  1799. 


358  ROMANTIC   DAYS 

exert  himself  even  a  little  was  the  oversight  of 
his  stables.  Witness  this  account  of  a  stren- 
uous (?)  day.  "  He  rises  about  nine  o'clock. 
He,  perhaps,  may  make  an  exertion  to  walk  as 
far  as  his  stables  to  see  his  horse,  —  which  are 
seldom  more  than  fifty  yards  from  his  house. 
He  returns  between  nine  and  ten  to  breakfast, 
which  is  generally  of  tea  or  coffee,  bread  and 
butter,  and  very  thin  slices  of  venison,  ham  or 
hung  beef.  He  then  lies  down  on  a  pallet,  on 
the  floor  in  the  coolest  room  in  the  house  in  his 
shirt  and  trowsers  [sic]  only  with  a  negro  at  his 
head  and  another  at  his  feet  to  fan  him  and  keep 
off  the  flies.  Between  twelve  and  one  he  takes 
a  draft  of  bombo  or  toddy,  a  liquor  composed 
of  water,  sugar,  rum  and  nutmeg  which  is  made 
weak  and  kept  cool.  He  dines  between  two  and 
three  and  at  every  table,  whatever  else  there  may 
be,  a  ham  and  greens  of  cabbage  are  always 
a  standing  dish.  At  dinner,  he  drinks  cider, 
toddy,  punch,  port,  claret  or  Madeira,  which  is 
generally  excellent  here.  Having  drank  some 
few  glasses  of  wine  after  dinner,  he  returns  to 
his  pallet  with  his  two  blacks  to  fan  him  and 
continues  to  drink  toddy  or  sangaree  all  the 
afternoon.  He  does  not  always  drink  tea. 
Between  nine  and  ten  in  the  evening  he  eats 
a  light  supper  of  milk  and  fruit  or  wine  sugar 
and  fruit  and  almost  immediately  retires  to 
bed  for  the  night." 


IN    THE   EARLY   REPUBLIC    359 

If  Washington  had  adopted  a  regimen  ap- 
proximating this  he  might  have  lived  to  a  green 
old  age  on  his  charming  rural  estate.  Instead 
he  wore  himself  out  riding  about  his  farms 
throughout  the  long  hot  summer,  surveying 
and  carrying  his  compass  himself.1 

There  is  a  delightful  anecdote  about  Washing- 
ton as  a  good  Samaritan  to  some  people  who 
had  met  misfortune  near  his  country-home, 
which,  I  think,  illustrates  better  than  anything 
else  I  have  ever  encountered  the  great  man's 
real  kindliness.  John  Bernard,  who  tells  this 
story  in  his  Retrospections  of  America 2  was  an 
English  actor  over  here  to  practice  his  pro- 
fession ;  but  he  spent  his  summers  touring  about 
the  country.  One  day  in  the  summer  of  1798, 
Bernard  found  himself  not  far  from  Alexandria 
just  as  a  chaise  bearing  a  young  man  and  young 
woman  was  overturned  in  the  road  before  him. 

1  In  the  autumn  of  1799,  while  thus  engaged,  he  was  thrown  by 
his  horse  and  sustained  a  slight  accident  of  which  he  made  light; 
and  in  the  following  December  he  similarly  refused  to  take  such 
notice  as  would  have  been  wise  of  a  wetting  sustained  while  going 
about  outdoors  in  a  snowstorm.  Yet  he  had  then  contracted  the 
cold  which  two  days  later  (December  14,  1799)  caused  his  death. 
He  was  quietly  buried  in  the  old  tomb  on  Mount  Vernon's  hill-side 
after  ample  opportunity  had  been  given  to  his  lovers,  friends  and 
neighbors  to  gaze  upon  his  noble  face  as  he  lay  on  the  river-piazza 
under  the  open  sky.  Two  and  a  half  years  later  Mrs.  Washington 
was  laid  beside  him.  Both  their  tombs  are  now  viewed  each  year 
by  reverent  thousands  in  the  spot  which  the  General  himself  had 
selected  to  be  his  final  resting-place  and  to  which  removal  of  his 
remains  was  made  in  1837. 

a  Published  by  Harper  and  Brothers:  New  York,  1887, 


360  ROMANTIC   DAYS 

To  assist  him  in  caring  for  the  couple  and  set- 
ting up  their  overturned  vehicle  a  horseman 
came  galloping  up  and  for  at  least  half  an  hour, 
under  the  meridian  sun  in  the  middle  of  July, 
the  two  hauled  and  helped  and  lifted  together. 
Then,  the  couple  having  been  sent  gratefully 
on  their  way,  the  actor  turned  to  survey  his 
fellow-helper  and  found  him  "  a  tall,  erect, 
well-made  man,  evidently  advanced  in  years, 
but  who  appeared  to  have  retained  all  the 
vigor  and  elasticity  resulting  from  a  life  of 
temperance  and  exercise.  His  dress  was  a 
blue  coat  buttoned  to  his  chin  and  buckskin 
breeches.  Though  the  instant  he  took  off  his 
hat  I  could  not  avoid  the  recognition  of  familiar 
lineaments  —  which,  indeed,  I  was  in  the  habit 
of  seeing  on  every  sign-post  and  over  every 
fire-place  —  still  I  failed  to  identify  him,  and, 
to  my  surprise,  I  found  I  was  an  object  of  equal 
speculation  in  his  eyes.  A  smile  at  length 
lighted  them  up  and  he  exclaimed, '  Mr.  Bernard, 
I  believe?  '  I  bowed.  *  I  had  the  pleasure  of 
seeing  you  perform  last  winter  in  Philadelphia/ 
I  bowed  again,  and  he  added.  .  .  .  '  You  must 
be  fatigued.  If  you  will  ride  up  to  my  house, 
which  is  not  a  mile  distant,  you  can  prevent 
any  ill-effects  of  this  exertion  by  a  couple  of 
hours'  rest.' 

"  I  looked  round  for  his  dwelling,   and  he 
pointed  to  a  building,  which,  the  day  before, 


IN    THE    EARLY   REPUBLIC    361 

I  had  spent  an  hour  in  contemplating.  *  Mount 
Vernon! '  I  exclaimed;  and  then,  drawing  back 
with  a  stare  of  wonder,  '  have  I  the  honor  of 
addressing  General  Washington? '  With  a 
smile,  whose  expression  of  benevolence  I  have 
rarely  seen  equalled,  he  offered  his  hand  and 
replied,  '  An  odd  sort  of  introduction,  Mr. 
Bernard;  but  I  am  pleased  to  find  that  you  can 
play  so  active  a  part  in  private  and  without  a 
prompter.'  ' 

And  then,  as  they  rode  to  Mount  Vernon 
together,  Bernard  tells  us  that  he  could  not  but 
think  that  he  had  witnessed  one  of  the  strongest 
evidences  of  a  great  man's  claim  to  his  reputa- 
tion — "  the  prompt,  impulsive  working  of  a 
heart  which,  having  made  the  good  of  mankind 
its  religion,  was  never  so  happy  as  in  practically 
displaying  it."  That  afternoon,  as  they  were 
waited  on  by  a  slave,  Washington  confessed  to 
his  visitor  that  he  not  only  prayed  for  free- 
dom for  the  blacks  but  could  "  clearly  foresee 
that  nothing  but  the  rooting  out  of  slavery 
can  perpetuate  the  existence  of  our  union!" 

Perhaps  the  very  best  example  of  Virgin- 
ian country  life  in  the  days  of  the  early 
Republic  may  be  gleaned  from  following  the 
daily  routine  of  this  great  man  after  he  had  re- 
tired to  Mount  Vernon  from  Philadelphia.  One 
of  the  final  festivities  given  to  him  in  the  city 
where  he  had  served  as  President  was  a  splendid 


362  ROMANTIC   DAYS 

banquet  in  a  hall  hung  with  many  paintings, 
among  them  one  of  Mount  Vernon,  the  home  to 
which  he  was  about  to  hasten  and  towards 
which,  as  we  now  know,  his  heart  had  long  been 
yearning.  On  the  day  preceding  his  retirement 
he  wrote  to  Henry  Knox,  formerly  his  fellow- 
soldier  and  more  recently  his  political  coadju- 
tor, "  To  the  weary  traveller  who  sees  a  resting 
place  and  is  bending  his  body  to  lean  thereon 
I  now  compare  myself.  .  .  .  But  although  the 
prospect  of  retirement  is  most  grateful  to  my 
soul  and  I  have  not  a  wish  to  mix  again  in  the 
great  world,  or  to  partake  in  its  politics,  yet 
I  am  not  without  my  regrets  at  parting  with 
(perhaps  never  more  to  meet)  the  few  intimates 
whom  I  love;  and  among  these,  be  assured,  you 
are  one.  .  .  .  The  remainder  of  my  life  which, 
in  the  course  of  nature,  cannot  be  long,  will  be 
occupied  in  rural  amusements;  and  though  I 
shall  seclude  myself  as  much  as  possible  from 
the  noisy  and  bustling  world,  none  would  more 
than  myself  be  regaled  by  the  company  of  those 
I  esteem,  at  Mount  Vernon." 

For  a  time  company  was  impossible,  however, 
because,  as  Washington  wrote,  "  there  is  scarcely 
a  room  to  put  a  friend  into  or  to  sit  in  my- 
self without  the  music  of  hammers  and  the  odor- 
iferous scent  of  paint."  Yet  he  was  soon  able 
to  welcome  guests;  and  so  found  himself  living 
the  ideal  life  he  thus  outlines  to  Oliver  Wolcott: 


IN    THE    EARLY   REPUBLIC     363 

"  To  make  and  sell  a  little  flour  annually,  to 
repair  houses  going  fast  to  ruin,  to  build  one  for 
the  security  of  my  papers  of  a  public  nature, 
and  to  amuse  myself  in  agricultural  and  rural 
pursuits.  ...  If  also  I  could  now  and  then 
meet  the  friends  I  esteem,  it  would  fill  the  meas- 
ure and  add  zest  to  my  enjoyments;  but  if 
ever  this  happens  it  must  be  under  my  own  vine 
and  fig  tree,  as  I  do  not  think  it  probable  that 
I  shall  go  beyond  twenty  miles  from  them." 

Into  the  task  of  building  up  his  long-neglected 
estate  Washington  threw  himself  with  character- 
istic energy.  "  I  begin  my  diurnal  course  with 
the  sun,"  he  wrote  James  McHenry,  "  and  if 
my  hirelings  are  not  in  their  places  at  that 
time  I  send  them  messages  of  sorrow  for  their 
indisposition;  .  .  .  then  comes  breakfast  at  a 
little  after  seven  o'clock,  and  this  being  over 
I  mount  my  horse  and  ride  around  my  farms, 
which  employs  me  until  it  is  time  to  dress  for 
dinner,  at  which  I  rarely  miss  seeing  strange 
faces  come,  as  they  say,  out  of  respect  to  me. 
.  .  .*The  usual  time  of  sitting  at  table,  a  walk, 
and  tea  bring  me  within  the  dawn  of  candle  light; 
previous  to  which,  if  not  prevented  by  company, 
I  resolve  that,  as  soon  as  the  glimmering  taper 
supplies  the  place  of  the  great  luminary,  I  will 
retire  to  my  writing  table  and  acknowledge 
the  letters  I  have  received;  but  when  the  lights 
are  brought  I  feel  tired  and  disinclined  to  engage 


364  ROMANTIC    DAYS 

in  this  work,  conceiving  that  the  next  night 
will  do  as  well.  The  next  night  comes  and  with 
it  the  same  causes  for  postponement,  and  so 
on.  Having  given  you  the  history  of  a  day,  it 
will  serve  for  a  year,  and  I  am  persuaded  you  will 
not  require  a  second  edition  of  it.  But  it  may 
strike  you  that,  in  this  detail,  no  mention  is  made 
of  any  time  allotted  for  reading.  The  remark 
would  be  just,  for  I  have  not  looked  into  a  book 
since  I  came  home  nor  shall  I  be  able  to  do  it 
until  I  have  discharged  my  workmen;  probably 
not  before  the  nights  grow  longer,  when  pos- 
sibly I  may  be  looking  in  Doomsday  Book." 
The  rather  melancholy  reflection  with  which 
this  letter  closes  was  not  an  uncommon  mood 
with  Washington  at  this  time.  There  is  no 
question  about  it;  his  arduous  tasks  of  a  life- 
time had  left  him  very  tired.  The  throngs  of 
people  who  came  to  see  him  "  out  of  respect " 
wealed  him,  too,  and  because  of  this  he  soon 
engaged  that  his  nephew,  Lawrence  Lewis, 
should  plan  to  make  his  home  at  Mount  Vernon 
for  at  least  a  part  of  the  time.  "  Your  aunt 
and  I,"  he  wrote  this  young  man,  "  are  both  in 
the  decline  of  life  and  regular  in  our  habits, 
especially  in  our  hours  of  rising  and  going  to 
bed,  so  I  require  some  person  (fit  and  proper) 
to  ease  me  of  the  trouble  of  entertaining  com- 
pany, particularly  of  nights,  as  it  is  my  incli- 
nation to  retire  (and  unless  prevented  by  very 


IN    THE   EARLY   REPUBLIC    365 

particular  company  I  always  do  retire)  either 
to  bed  or  to  my  study  soon  after  candle  light. 
In  taking  those  duties  (which  hospitality  obliges 
one  to  bestow  on  company)  off  my  hands,  it 
would  render  me  a  very  acceptable  service." 
Lawrence  Lewis  accordingly  made  arrange- 
ments to  spend  a  good  deal  of  time  at  Mount 
Vernon,  doing  this  the  more  gladly,  we  may  be 
sure,  because  he  soon  fell  in  love  with  pretty 
Nelly  Custis,1  Mrs.  Washington's  granddaugh- 
ter, who  with  her  brother,  George  W.  P.  Custis, 
had  been  adopted  by  the  General  at  their  fa- 
ther's death.  Washington  was  very  fond  of  this 
charming  young  girl  and  one  of  the  most  de- 
lightful products  of  his  pen  is  a  letter  of  half- 
humorous,  half -serious  advice  sent  her  when  her 
love-affairs  were  perplexing  her  a  bit  and  when, 
woman-like,  she  had  protested  that  she  did 
not  care  a  fig  for  any  of  the  men  she  knew  and 
so  was  determined  "  not  to  give  herself  a  mo- 
ment's uneasiness  on  their  account."  Washing- 
ton shrewdly  questioned  her  power  to  adhere 
to  this  resolution  and  wrote:2  "  Men  and  women 
feel  the  same  inclination  towards  each  other 
now  that  they  always  have  done,  and  which  they 
will  continue  to  do  until  there  is  a  new  order  of 
things;  and  you,  as  others  have  done,  may  find 

1  Lawrence  Lewis  and  Nelly  Custis  were  married  on  Washington's 
birthday,  1799. 

2  MS.  letter  quoted  in  Irving's  Life  of  Washington. 


366  ROMANTIC   DAYS 

that  the  passions  of  your  sex  are  easier  raised 
than  allayed.  Do  not,  therefore,  boast  too 
soon  nor  too  strongly  of  your  insensibility.  .  .  . 
Love  is  said  to  be  an  involuntary  passion,  and  it 
is  therefore  contended  that  it  cannot  be  resisted. 
This  is  true  in  part  only,  for  like  all  things  else, 
when  nourished  and  supplied  plentifully  with 
aliment,  it  is  rapid  in  its  progress;  but  let 
these  be  withdrawn,  and  it  may  be  stifled  in 
its  birth  or  much  stinted  in  its  growth.  .  .  . 
Although  we  cannot  avoid  first  impressions,  we 
may  assuredly  place  them  under  guard.  .  .  . 
When  the  fire  is  beginning  to  kindle  and  your 
heart  growing  warm,  propound  these  questions 
to  it.  Who  is  this  invader?  Have  I  a  competent 
knowledge  of  him?  Is  he  a  man  of  good  char- 
acter? A  man  of  sense?  For,  be  assured,  a 
sensible  woman  can  never  be  happy  with  a  fool. 
What  has  been  his  walk  in  life?  Is  his  fortune 
sufficient  to  maintain  me  in  the  manner  I  have 
been  accustomed  to  live,  and  as  my  sisters  do 
live?  And  is  he  one  to  whom  my  friends  can 
have  no  reasonable  objection?  If  all  these 
interrogatories  can  be  satisfactorily  answered, 
there  will  remain  but  one  more  to  be  asked; 
that,  however,  is  an  important  one.  Have  I 
sufficient  ground  to  conclude  that  his  affections 
are  engaged  by  me?  Without  this  the  heart  of 
sensibility  will  struggle  against  a  passion  that 
is  not  reciprocated." 


ELEANOR   PARKE   CUSTIS. 

From  a  painting  by  Gilbert  Stuart  in  the  possession  of  Mrs.  Edwin  A.  S.  Lewis  of  New 

York. 


IN    THE   EARLY   REPUBLIC    367 

No  man  knew  better  than  Washington  all  that 
a  satisfying  domestic  life  means.  To  men  who 
wrote  him  of  an  approaching  or  a  consummated 
happy  marriage  he  replied  quite  as  frankly 
and  fully  as  he  had  written  Nelly  Custis.  There 
is  extant  a  delightful  letter  sent  by  him  to  the 
Marquis  de  Chastellux  when  that  Frenchman, 
of  whom  he  appears  to  have  been  sincerely 
fond,  sent  to  him  the  news  of  his  recent  nuptials. 
The  letter  is  earlier,  in  point  of  time,  than  the 
one  to  Nelly  Custis,  but  it  may  very  well  be 
given  here,  none  the  less,  inasmuch  as  it  shows 
Washington  in  his  most  genial  mood. 

"  MOUNT  VERNON,  April  25,  1788. 
"  MY  DEAR  MARQUIS  :  In  reading  your  very 
friendly  and  acceptable  letter  of  21st  of  Decem- 
ber, 1787  [the  Marquis  had  then  been  back  in 
France  for  five  years]  which  came  to  hand  by  the 
last  mail,  I  was,  as  you  may  well  suppose, 
not  less  delighted  than  surprised  to  come  across 
that  plain  American  word  *  my  wife  '  —  a  Wife ! 
—  Well,  my  dear  Marquis,  I  can  hardly  re- 
frain from  smiling  to  find  that  you  are  caught 
at  last.  I  saw,  by  the  Eulogium  you  often  made 
on  the  happiness  of  domestic  life  in  America, 
that  you  had  swallowed  the  bait  and  that  you 
would  as  surely  as  you  are  a  philosopher  and  a 
soldier,  be  taken  one  day  or  other.  So  your 
day  has  at  length  come.  I  am  glad  of  it  with 


368  ROMANTIC   DAYS 

all  my  heart  and  soul.  It  is  quite  good  enough 
for  you.  Now  you  are  well  served  for  coming 
to  fight  in  favour  of  the  American  rebels,  all 
the  way  across  the  Atlantic  ocean,  by  catching 
that  terrible  contagion  which  like  the  small- 
pox or  the  plague,  a  man  can  have  only  once  in 
his  life,  because  it  commonly  lasts  him  (at 
least  with  us  in  America  —  I  don't  know  how 
you  manage  these  matters  in  France)  for  his 
lifetime.  And  yet  after  all  the  maledictions 
you  so  richly  merit  on  the  subject  the  worst 
wish  I  can  find  it  in  my  heart  to  make  against 
Madame  de  Chastellux  and  yourself  is  that  you 
may  neither  of  you  get  the  better  of  this  domestic 
felicity  during  the  course  of  your  mortal  existence. 

"If  so  wonderful  an  event  should  have  oc- 
casioned me,  my  dear  Marquis,  to  have  written 
in  a  strange  style,  you  will  understand  me  as 
clearly  as  if  I  had  said  what  in  plain  English 
is  the  simple  truth:  do  me  the  justice  to  be- 
lieve that  I  take  a  heartfelt  interest  in  whatever 
concerns  your  happiness;  and  in  this  view  I 
sincerely  congratulate  you  on  your  auspicious 
matrimonial  connection. 

"  I  am  happy  to  find  that  Mme.  de  Chas- 
tellux is  so  intimately  connected  with  the  Duch- 
ess of  Orleans,  as  I  have  always  understood  that 
this  noble  lady  was  an  illustrious  pattern  of 
connubial  love  as  well  as  an  excellent  model 
of  virtue  in  general. 


IN    THE   EARLY   REPUBLIC    369 

"  While  you  have  been  making  love  under 
the  banner  of  Hymen,  the  great  personages  of 
the  north  have  been  making  war  under  the  in- 
spiration or  rather  the  infatuation  of  Mars. 
Now  for  my  part  I  humbly  conceive  you  had 
much  the  best  and  wisest  of  the  bargain;  for 
certainly  it  is  much  more  consonant  to  all  the 
principles  of  reason  and  religion  (natural  and 
revealed)  to  replenish  the  earth  with  inhabitants 
rather  than  de-populate  it  by  killing  those  al- 
ready in  existence;  besides  it  is  the  time  for 
the  age  of  knight-errantry  and  mad  heroism  to 
be  at  an  end. 

"  Your  young  military  men,  who  want  to 
reap  the  harvest  of  laurels,  don't  care,  I  suppose, 
how  many  seeds  of  war  are  sown;  but  for  the 
sake  of  humanity,  it  is  devoutly  to  be  wished, 
that  the  manly  employment  of  agriculture  and 
the  humanizing  benefits  of  commerce,  should 
supersede  the  waste  of  war,  and  the  rage  of 
conquest;  that  the  swords  might  be  turned  into 
ploughshares  —  the  spears  into  pruning  hooks 
—  and  as  the  Scripture  expresses  it,  *  the  nations 
learn  war  no  more.'  .  .  .  Hitherto  there  has 
been  much  greater  unanimity  in  the  favour  of 
the  proposed  government  here  than  could  reason- 
ably have  been  expected.  Should  the  Consti- 
tution be  adopted  (and  I  think  it  will  be) 
America  will  lift  up  her  head  again  and  in  a 
few  years  become  respectable  among  the  nations. 


370  ROMANTIC   DAYS 

It  is  a  flattering  and  consolatory  reflection  that 
our  rising  republic  has  the  good  wishes  of  all 
philosophers,  patriots  and  virtuous  men  in  all 
nations  and  that  they  look  upon  it  as  a  kind  of 
asylum  for  mankind.  God  grant  that  we  may 
not  be  disappointed  in  our  honest  expectations 
by  our  folly  or  perverseness ! 

"  With  sentiments  of  the  purest  attachment 
and  esteem,  I  have  the  honour  to  be,  my  dear 
Marquis,  your  most  obedient  and  humble  servant, 

"  GEORGE  WASHINGTON. 

"  The  Marquis  de  Chastellux." 

This  likable  young  Marquis  had  made  some 
observations  of  his  own  on  Virginian  home 
life  which  are  not  without  interest.  '  These 
people,"  he  said,  "  have  the  reputation  and  with 
reason  of  living  nobly  in  their  houses  and  of 
being  hospitable.  They  give  strangers  not  only 
a  willing  but  a  liberal  reception.  This  arises 
on  one  hand  from  their  having  no  large  towns 
where  they  may  assemble,  by  which  means  they 
are  little  acquainted  with  society,  except  from 
the  visits  they  make;  and,  on  the  other,  their 
land  and  their  negroes  furnishing  them  with 
every  article  of  consumption  and  the  necessary 
service  this  renowned  hospitality  costs  them  very 
little.  .  .  .  The  chief  magnificence  of  the  Vir- 
ginians consists  in  furniture,  linen  and  plate; 
in  which  they  resemble  our  ancestors  who  had 


IN    THE    EARLY   REPUBLIC    371 

neither  cabinets  nor  wardrobes  in  their  castles 
but  contented  themselves  with  a  well-stored 
cellar  and  a  handsome  buffet.  If  they  some- 
time dissipate  their  fortunes  it  is  by  gaming, 
hunting  and  horse-races;  but  the  latter  are 
of  some  utility  inasmuch  as  they  encourage  the 
breed  of  horses,  which  are  really  very  handsome 
in  Virginia." 

The  great  number  of  slaves  everywhere  to 
be  encountered  in  the  South  (Chastellux  says 
there  were  two  hundred  thousand  in  Virginia 
alone)  suggested  to  this  traveler  the  desirabil- 
ity of  wiping  out  this  unfortunate  institution. 
The  method  he  recommends  seems  to  us  start- 
ling, to  put  it  mildly:  'The  best  expedient," 
he  says,  "  would  be  to  export  a  great  number  of 
males,  and  to  encourage  the  marriage  of  white 
men  with  the  females!  " 

In  this  connection  it  seems  worth  while  to 
add  that  the  contemporary  translator  of  Chas- 
tellux's  Travels,  if  not  the  Marquis  himself, 
found  much  that  was  shocking  in  the  negro 
situation  of  that  day.  "  I  have  frequently  seen 
in  Virginia,  on  visits  to  gentlemen's  houses," 
the  latter  asserts,  "  young  negroes  and  negresses 
running  about  or  basking  in  the  court-yard 
naked  as  they  came  into  the  world  .  .  .  and 
young  negroes  from  sixteen  to  twenty  years 
old,  with  not  an  article  of  clothing  but  a  loose 
shirt,  descending  half  way  down  their  thighs, 


372  ROMANTIC   DAYS 

waiting  at  table  where  were  ladies,  without  any 
apparent  embarrassment  on  one  side,  or  the 
slightest  attempt  at  concealment  on  the  other." 
One  privilege  which  de  Chastellux  enjoyed, 
while  in  Virginia,  was  that  of  visiting  Jefferson 
at  his  charming  estate,  Monticello.  No  better 
description  than  his  of  Jefferson  at  home  has 
come  down  to  us:  "  The  house  of  Mr.  Jefferson 
stands  pre-eminent  in  these  retirements;  it 
was  himself  who  built  it  and  preferred  this  sit- 
uation; for  although  he  possessed  considerable 
property  in  the  neighborhood,  there  was  nothing 
to  prevent  him  from  fixing  his  residence  wherever 
he  thought  proper.  But  it  was  a  debt  nature 
owed  to  a  philosopher  and  a  man  of  taste  that, 
in  his  own  possessions,  he  should  find  a  spot 
where  he  might  best  study  and  enjoy  her.  He 
calls  his  house  Monticello  (Little  Mountain), 
a  very  modest  title,  for  it  is  situated  upon  a 
very  lofty  one.  .  .  .  After  ascending  by  a 
tolerably  commodious  road  for  more  than  half 
an  hour,  we  arrived  there.  This  house,  of  which 
Mr.  Jefferson  was  the  architect  and  often  one 
of  the  workmen,  is  rather  elegant  and  in  the 
Italian  taste  though  not  without  fault;  it  con- 
sists of  one  large  square  pavilion  the  entrance 
of  which  is  by  two  porticos  ornamented  by 
pillars.  The  ground  floor  consists  chiefly  of 
a  very  large  lofty  salon  which  is  to  be  decorated 
entirely  in  the  antique  style:  above  it  is  a 


IN    THE    EARLY   REPUBLIC    373 

library  of  the  same  form.  Two  small  wings, 
with  only  a  ground  floor  and  attic  story  are 
joined  to  this  pavilion  and  communicate  with 
the  kitchen,  offices,  &c,  which  will  form  a 
kind  of  basement  story  over  which  runs  the 
terrace.  My  object  in  this  short  description 
is  only  to  show  the  difference  between  this  and 
the  other  houses  of  the  country;  for  we  may 
safely  aver  that  Mr.  Jefferson  is  the  first  Ameri- 
can who  has  consulted  the  fine  arts  to  know 
how  he  should  shelter  himself  from  the  weather. 
"  But  it  is  on  himself  alone  I  ought  to  bestow 
my  time.  Let  me  describe  to  you  a  man  not 
yet  forty,  tall  and  with  a  mild  and  pleasing 
countenance,  but  whose  mind  and  understanding 
are  ample  substitutes  for  every  exterior  grace. 
An  American  .  .  .  who  is  at  once  a  musician 
skilled  in  drawing,  a  geometrician,  an  astrono- 
mer, a  natural  philosopher,  legislator  and  states- 
man. ...  A  philosopher  in  voluntary  retire- 
ment from  the  world  and  public  business.1  .  .  . 
A  mild  and  amiable  wife,  charming  children  of 
whose  education  he  himself  takes  charge,  a 
house  to  embellish,  great  provisions  to  improve, 
and  the  arts  and  sciences  to  cultivate;  these 
are  what  remain  to  Mr.  Jefferson  after  having 
played  a  principal  character  on  the  theatre  of 

1  The  period  of  this  young  nobleman's  visit  was  that  of  the  Rev- 
olution, it  should  be  recalled.  His  book  was  published  in  France 
in  1786, 


374  ROMANTIC    DAYS 

the  new  world.  .  .  .  The  visit  which  I  made  him 
was  not  unexpected,  for  he  had  long  since  in- 
vited me  to  come  and  pass  a  few  days  with  him 
in  the  centre  of  the  mountains;  notwithstanding 
which  I  found  his  first  appearance  serious,  nay 
even  cold.  But  before  I  had  been  two  hours 
with  him  we  were  as  intimate  as  if  we  had  passed 
our  whole  lives  together.  Walking,  books, 
but  above  all  a  conversation  always  varied  and 
interesting,  always  supported  by  that  sweet  satis- 
faction experienced  by  two  persons  who,  in 
communicating  their  sentiments  and  opinions 
are  invariably  in  unison,  and  who  understand 
each  other  at  the  first  hint,  made  four  days  pass 
away  like  so  many  minutes.1 

"  I  recollect  with  pleasure  that  as  we  were 
conversing  one  evening  over  a  bowl  of  punch, 
after  Mrs.  Jefferson  had  retired,  our  conversa- 
tion turned  on  the  poems  of  Ossian.  It  was  a 
spark  of  electricity  which  passed  rapidly  from 
one  to  the  other;  we  recollected  the  passages 
in  those  sublime  poems  which  particularly 
struck  us  and  entertained  my  fellow  travelers 
who  fortunately  knew  English  well  and  were 
qualified  to  judge  of  their  merits  though  they 
had  never  read  the  poems.  In  our  enthusiasm 
the  book  was  sent  for  and  placed  near  the  bowl 

1  Chastellux's  descriptions  of  Virginia  are  held  to  be  particularly 
valuable  because  they  give  the  impressions  made  by  the  higher  class 
in  Virginia  upon  one  used  to  the  cultivated  life  of  France  previous 
to  that  country's  Revolution. 


IN    THE    EARLY   REPUBLIC    375 

where,  by  their  mutual  aid,  the  night  far  ad- 
vanced imperceptibly  upon  us.  Sometimes 
natural  philosophy,  at  others  politics  or  the 
arts  were  the  topics  of  our  conversation,  for 
no  object  had  escaped  Mr.  Jefferson;  and  it 
seemed  as  if  from  his  youth  he  had  placed  his 
mind,  as  he  has  done  his  house,  on  an  elevated 
situation  from  which  he  might  contemplate 
the  universe." 

Each  plantation  was  a  little  kingdom  of 
its  own  in  the  Virginia  of  that  day,  producing 
within  its  own  limits  everything  needed  for 
life  except  groceries  and  fine  cloths,  which  were 
brought  from  Richmond  or  some  other  city  in 
the  wagons  that  carried  to  market  the  harvest 
of  flour  and  tobacco.  Society  here  was  classi- 
fied, sifted  and  solidly  established.  Everybody 
and  everybody's  family  was  known.  Hence 
the  F.  F.  V.  characterization  of  more  recent 
years.  At  the  outset  these  Virginia  families 
universally  possessed  simplicity  of  character, 
good  faith,  honesty  of  purpose,  loyalty  to  a 
conviction,  and  they  exercised  liberal  hospitality 
and  spent  their  life  in  the  honorable  discharge 
of  their  duty  as  they  saw  it.  *  Thackeray," 
Mrs.  Ellet  says,  "  has  given  us  George  and  Henry 
Esmond  as  types  of  the  best  class  in  Virginia 
society  and,  could  he  have  painted  a  lovable 
woman,  he  might  have  given  us  the  feminine 
side  also.  Madame  Esmond,  however,  is  but 


376  ROMANTIC   DAYS 

the  colonial  Englishwoman,  losing  the  calmness 
that  marked  the  caste  through  the  wear  and 
tear  of  managing  ignorant  servants  and  ten- 
antry." 

Delightfully  free  from  all  ostentation  was 
the  hospitality  which  then  began  and  which 
has  become  the  tradition  of  Virginian  life  ever 
since.  The  wealth  of  the  residents  consisting 
as  it  did  of  land  and  crops,  there  was  no  im- 
posing by  false  appearance  and  no  sudden  in- 
crease of  expenditure  was  possible.  "  A  tem- 
porary show  of  splendor  at  the  cost  of  real  in- 
convenience would  have  been  regarded,"  one 
writer  says,  "  as  a  kind  of  forgery  for  the  pur- 
poses of  an  adventurer."  And  how  free  the  hos- 
pitality was!  Southerners  traveling  in  their 
old-fashioned  massive  carriages  drawn  by  two 
or  four  horses  and  attended  by  mounted  servants 
would  stop  at  any  plantation  in  perfect  assur- 
ance of  a  welcome  even  if  equipped  with  no 
other  introduction  than  the  name  of  a  mutual 
friend.  Northern  travelers  usually  took  the 
mail  coaches  by  the  day,  with  relays  of  horses 
every  ten  miles,  stopping  where  they  pleased. 
This  posting  was  called  "  taking  the  accommoda- 
tion line."  And  men  and  women  living  upon 
remote  plantations  jolted  cheerfully  over  miles 
of  rough  road  to  lend  their  presence  at  social 
functions.  Fox-hunting  was  a  sport  much 
affected;  but  often  the  hunt  was  only  an  excuse 


IN    THE    EARLY   REPUBLIC    377 

for  a  round  of  visits  made  on  the  return  journey, 
which  sometimes  was  thus  made  to  last  a  week. 

To  be  sure,  it  was  a  provincial  life.  Even 
for  purposes  of  education  the  early  Republican 
Virginians  did  not  stray  far  from  home.  Hard 
by  the  Washington  College,  of  which  General 
Lee  was  later  president,  stood  the  Military 
Institute  over  which  Stonewall  Jackson  presided 
for  eight  years,  and  the  Ann  Smith  Academy, 
to  which  the  daughters  of  prominent  Virginian 
families  were  sent,  attended,  in  their  own  car- 
riages and  on  horseback.  The  preservation 
of  beauty  and  womanly  charm  shared  with 
cultural  subjects  the  hours  devoted  to  study  at 
the  famous  Ann  Smith.  Every  girl  was  taught 
fine  embroidery  and  the  care  of  the  complexion, 
being  especially  warned  against  turning  a  door- 
knob, touching  a  pair  of  tongs  or  indulging  in 
any  other  practice  which  might  "  spread  the 
hand."  Long  gloves  and  deep  "sun-bonnets 
were  constantly  worn  for  beauty's  sake,  by  these 
high-born  Virginia  maidens,  Mrs.  Ellet  says, 
and  the  eating  of  meat  and  butter  discouraged, 
as  tending  to  fleshiness  and  fat. 

Christmas,  as  might  be  expected,  was  the 
crowning  festivity  of  a  Virginian  home.  Then 
it  was  that  the  young  people,  back  from  school, 
and  their  elders,  returned  from  steering  the 
ship  of  state  at  Washington,  or  directing  the 
exports  of  the  country  at  Richmond,  had  merry 


378  ROMANTIC   DAYS 

times  together  in  a  fashion  approximating  the 
English  Christmas  Washington  Irving  has  de- 
scribed. Weeks  before  the  festival  dawned 
jellies,  cakes,  puddings  and  pies  were  carefully 
prepared,  and  huge  casks  of  cider  and  bins  of 
luscious  apples  brought  home.  Then  slaughtered 
fowls  and  tempting  meats  were  placed  in  waiting. 
At  midnight,  on  Christmas  Eve,  the  darkies, 
to  whom  the  festival  was  particularly  welcome 
because  of  the  gifts  it  brought  them,  would 
set  off  a  big  log  charged  with  powder  and  blow 
an  old  ox-horn  as  a  signal  to  begin  the  fun. 
The  sun  would  scarcely  be  up  before  the  visits 
of  neighbors  began,  and  soon  there  would  be 
dancing  to  the  tune  of  the  fiddle,  eating  and 
drinking  on  the  bounteously-spread  tables  and 
good  stories  exchanged  over  huge,  roaring  fires 
in  the  hall.  Virginian  home  life  was  then  at 
its  best.  For  unlimited  hospitality  was,  for 
the  nonce,  a  duty  as  well  as  a  pleasure. 


CHAPTER  VII 

NEW   ORLEANS 

NEW  ORLEANS  does  not  really  belong 
to  the  early  Republic  at  all,  for  she  did 
not  come  under  the  control  of  the  United 
States  until  1803.  Even  today,  the  city  is  in 
many  ways  more  French  than  American.  And 
its  history,  previous  to  its  cession  to  America 
by  France,  as  part  of  the  Louisiana  Purchase, 
was  as  varied  as  that  of  a  Parisian  cocotte,  who, 
possessed  now  by  this  master  and  now  by  that, 
yet  retains,  under  every  change  of  fortune  and 
ownership,  the  alluring  and  distinctively  Parisian 
characteristics  which  constitute  her  charm. 

Of  romance  there  was  enough  inherent  in 
and  growing  out  of  these  early  vicissitudes  of 
New  Orleans  to  fill  many  books  the  size  of  this 
one.  For  to  satisfy  the  needs  of  a  virgin  country 
fair  young  girls  were  exported  from  France  under 
conditions  which,  though  they  make  the  blood 
boil,  as  one  reads,  set  the  imagination  aglow  as 
well.  Michelet  has  devoted  some  matchless 
pages  to  this  subject,  and  the  writer  of  Manon 
Lescaut  has,  also,  made  thrilling  use  of  this 


380  ROMANTIC   DAYS 

cruel  traffic  in  the  bodies  and  souls  of  helpless 
women.  The  newcomers  soon  found  husbands 
of  a  sort,  however,  among  the  hardy  settlers  of 
the  new  country  and,  by  1727,  a  fresh  generation 
of  native  young  people,  Creoles  without  any 
definite  knowledge  of  the  rudeness  that  had  pre- 
ceded their  birth,  had  grown  up  in  New  Orleans 
and  needed  to  be  educated.  To  train  them  and 
teach  them  came  the  Ursulines,  whose  old  con- 
vent building  still  stands,  a  monument  to  com- 
memorate the  first  institution  ever  founded 
in  the  United  States  expressly  for  the  education 
of  young  women.  Madeleine  Hachard  of  Rouen 
was  one  of  the  original  Ursulines  and  she  has 
written  of  her  experiences  in  a  most  engaging 
fashion.  Five  months  it  took  her  to  make  the 
voyage  over;  and  then  seven  years  were  con- 
sumed ere  the  sturdy  convent  home  built  for 
the  sisters  was  ready  (in  1754)  for  their  occupa- 
tion. What  political  turmoils,  what  tremendous 
upheavals  of  government  the  gentle  Ursulines 
were  to  witness  during  the  years  which  suc- 
ceeded! Now  France,  now  Spain,  now  the 
French  Republic  and  now  the  Americans  had 
dominion,  they  were  told,  over  them.  Glad, 
indeed,  they  must  have  been,  to  welcome  sturdy 
Andrew  Jackson,  when,  in  1815,  he  came  to 
shake  hands  as  a  sign  that  the  strife  and  turmoil 
of  their  city  were  at  an  end!  To  tell  in  a  page 
or  two  how  Andrew  Jackson  chanced  to  be  the 


IN    THE   EARLY   REPUBLIC    381 

"  hero  of  New  Orleans  "  and  as  such  went  natu- 
rally, after  attending  mass  at  the  Cathedral, 
to  pay  his  respects  to  the  devout  women  in 
the  Ursuline  convent,  is  no  easy  task.  Polit- 
ically, New  Orleans  had  been  American  for 
a  dozen  years  now;  but  in  temperament  and 
in  affection  the  settlement  was  French,  first, 
Spanish  next,  and  American  not  at  all.  The 
Louisianians  deeply  resented  having  been  sold 
by  their  mother-country  and  felt  it  as  a  special 
insult  that  they  had  been  sold  to  America. 
The  Creoles  steadfastly  refused  to  take  office 
under  the  new  government;  and,  since  English 
was  now  the  official  language,  felt  it  incumbent 
upon  them  not  to  use  it.  Then,  too,  the  delay 
in  admitting  the  territory  into  the  Union  and  the 
attendant  debates  as  to  whether  the  Louisianians 
were  qualified  for  self-government  had  naturally 
not  helped  towards  a  better  feeling  between  the 
purchasers  and  the  purchased.  Industrially, 
as  will  be  easily  understood,  the  Creoles  suffered 
considerably  as  a  result  of  this  hostility  to  the 
ruling  powers.  Many  of  them  were  as  poor  as 
they  were  proud  and  had  only  their  natural 
gaiety  and  their  inveterate  habit  of  dancing 
to  cheer  them  up  after  long  days  of  toil  for  the 
necessities  of  life.  But  in  1812,  the  Territory 
of  Orleans  being  admitted  to  the  Union  as  the 
State  of  Louisiana,  the  outlook  brightened 
considerably;  and  Governor  Claiborne,  who 


382  ROMANTIC   DAYS 

had  served  with  tact  and  devotion  through  the 
trying  period  of  reconstruction,  received  the 
compliment  of  being  elected  by  the  Louisianians 
to  the  highest  office  they  had  to  bestow. 

The  city  was  still  French  in  its  loyalties, 
however,  and  when,  in  the  early  summer  of 
1814,  there  came  the  astounding  news  that 
England  had  overthrown  Napoleon  Bonaparte, 
the  heart  of  the  people  instinctively  ached  for 
France  and  their  rage  was  enkindled  against 
England.  Imagine,  then,  the  violence  of  re- 
sentment with  which  the  news  was  received  that, 
as  a  condition  of  peace  with  France,  England 
would  demand  the  retrocession  of  Louisiana 
to  Spain !  It  was  even  said  that  Spain  was  tak- 
ing up  arms  to  repossess  herself  of  her  former 
colony. 

But  the  arms  that  soon  put  in  an  appear- 
ance were  English  arms.  And,  —  not  to  go 
further  into  the  sinuosities  of  the  situation,  — 
it  was  by  delivering  the  city  from  these,  that 
Andrew  Jackson  became  the  "  hero  of  New 
Orleans."  The  part  played  in  the  story  by 
Lafitte,  the  "  pirate,"  and  the  superb  fight  put 
up  by  General  Lambert  and  Sir  Edward  Paken- 
ham  on  the  British  side  make  glorious  reading 
for  those  who  enjoy  descriptions  of  battles. 
Alexander  Walker,  who  has  written  a  fair- 
sized  book  about  this  encounter,  says  that  no 
campaign  in  modern  military  history  is  more 


IN    THE   EARLY   REPUBLIC    383 

brilliant  than  this  one,  in  which  a  town  of  less 
than  eighteen  thousand  inhabitants,  without 
forts  or  any  kind  of  defences,  exposed  to  at- 
tacks on  all  sides  by  land  and  water,  was  able, 
with  an  army  of  less  than  five  thousand  hastily- 
raised  and  poorly-equipped  militia,  to  repel 
ten  thousand  of  the  best  soldiers  in  the  world 
freshly  decked  out  in  the  laurels  of  European 
victory.  To  Andrew  Jackson  belongs  the  credit 
for  it  all,  credit  which  should  be  accorded  with 
especial  heartiness  when  it  is  remembered  how 
grudgingly  his  country  entrusted  to  him  the 
opportunity  for  usefulness  which  he  so  mag- 
nificently improved. 

I  am  glad  to  pass  over  swiftly  the  details 
of  this  bitter  fight  in  which  brave  men  on  both 
sides  went  down  to  a  terrible  death.  But  I 
like  to  dwell  on  the  deepened  good  feeling  which 
now  grew  up  between  elements  which  had 
previously  quite  failed  to  understand  each 
other.  When  Jackson  entered  the  city  for  the 
first  time  after  the  battle  of  New  Orleans  the 
demonstrations  of  joy  with  which  he  was  re- 
ceived were  simply  boundless.  The  people 
attended  him  in  crowds  to  his  quarters  in  the 
Faubourg  Marigny  and  lavished  upon  him  such 
honors  as  the  Southern  temperament  is  always 
supremely  happy  in  bestowing.  In  the  old 
Cathedral,  burnished  up  for  the  occasion,  a 
solemn  service  of  thanksgiving  was  held  at 


384  ROMANTIC   DAYS 

Jackson's  request,  and  in  the  Place  d'Armes, 
opposite,  arose  a  great  triumphal  arch  on  whose 
steps  the  hero  of  the  day  was  crowned  with 
laurel  at  the  hands  of  two  sweet  young  girls 
who  had  been  chosen  for  this  high  office.  All 
the  contentions,  horrors,  sufferings  and  troubles 
of  the  war  were  now  forgotten.  And  forgotten, 
too,  were  the  differences  which  had  heretofore 
retarded  the  natural  development  of  the  city. 
In  repelling  a  common  enemy  New  Orleans, 
despite  racial  and  lingual  distinctions,  had  at 
last  found  itself. 

Begins  now  the  most  brilliant  period  of  the 
city's  social  history,  that  time  of  many  and 
varied  amusements  which  has  made  the  name 
of  New  Orleans  synonymous  with  appealing 
and  picturesque  play.  To  join  the  French 
Theatre,  started  in  a  small  way  in  1791  by  the 
refugees  of  St.  Domingo,  and  enlarged  early 
in  the  century  to  compete  with  the  new  and 
progressive  Theatre  St.  Philippe,1  had  come  in 
1811  the  Theatre  d* Orleans,  the  centre  for  more 
than  forty  years  of  all  that  was  gayest  and  most 
alluring  in  the  life  of  the  city.  Travelers  who 
visited  New  Orleans  during  these  years  have 
much  to  say  of  this  playhouse  and  of  the  social 
life  which  emanated  from  it.  The  Duke  of 
Saxe-Weimar,  Eisenach,  who  was  here  in  1825-26, 
made  up  his  mind  to  stay  the  season  through,  so 

1  Opened  in  1808  in  St.  Philip's  Street. 


IN    THE    EARLY   REPUBLIC    385 

agreeable  did  he  find  the  life  of  which  it  was  the 
centre. 

"  No  day  passed,"  he  wrote  afterwards, 
"  which  did  not  produce  something  pleasant  and 
interesting.  .  .  .  Dinners,  evening  parties,  mas- 
querades and  other  amusements  followed  close 
on  each  other.  .  .  .  There  were  masked  balls 
every  night  of  the  Carnival  at  the  French 
Theatre,  which  had  a  handsome  saloon,  well 
ornamented  with  mirrors,  with  three  rows  of 
seats  arranged  en  amphitheatre.  Tuesdays  and 
Fridays  were  the  nights  for  the  subscription 
balls,  where  none  but  good  society  were  ad- 
mitted. The  ladies  were  very  pretty,  with  a 
genteel  French  air,  their  dress,  extremely  elegant 
after  the  latest  Paris  fashion;  they  dance  ex- 
cellently. Two  cotillions  and  a  waltz  were 
danced  in  quick  succession;  the  musicians  were 
colored  and  pretty  good.  The  gentlemen,  who 
were  far  behind  the  ladies  in  elegance,  did  not 
long  remain  but  hastened  away  to  other  balls, 
and  so,  many  of  the  ladies  were  condemned 
to  '  make  tapestry.'  '  Just  before  the  Duke's 
coming  an  American  theatre,  also,  had  been 
started  in  New  Orleans,  and  here  the  visitor 
from  Saxe- Weimar  saw  "  Der  Freischutz " 
given.  The  founder  of  this  theatre  was  James 
H.  Caldwell,  a  gentleman  and  scholar  as  well 
as  a  bon  vivant.  His  suppers,  criticisms,  readings 
and  repartees  form  an  important  part  of  the 


386  ROMANTIC   DAYS 

theatrical    tradition    of    New    Orleans   to   this 
day. 

An  Englishman  who  visited  New  Orleans  in 
1828,  —  finding  very  little,  truth  to  tell,  to 
like  about  the  place,  —  has  left  the  following 
interesting  description  of  the  city  as  it  then  was : 
"It  is  built  very  like  an  old  French  provincial 
town:  the  same  narrow  streets,  old-fashioned 
houses,  and  lamps  suspended  by  a  chain  across 
the  road.  Many  of  the  houses  are,  however, 
picturesque,  with  their  large  projecting  roofs 
and  painted  sides  and  windows.  .  .  .  The  pop- 
ulation, including  blacks,  is  upward  of  40,000, 
the  greater  part  of  which  are  still  French  or 
speak  only  that  language.  The  whole  place 
has  quite  the  air  of  a  French  town.  .  .  .  Went 
to  the  Cathedral  this  morning,  an  old  building 
of  the  mixed  French  and  Spanish  style  of  archi- 
tecture. The  inside  was  less  ornamental  than 
most  Catholic  churches.  I  observed  one  Ma- 
donna dressed  in  silk  according  to  the  latest 
Parisian  fashion.  There  are  two  Catholic 
churches  and  one  small  Presbyterian  church 
for  the  whole  population.  .  .  .  Walked  to  the 
farthest  end  of  the  town  along  the  banks  of 
the  river  and  saw  some  beautiful  little  villas, 
secluded  in  gardens,  where  many  of  the  tropical 
plants  were  growing,  the  banana,  orange  tree, 
lime  etc.  and  the  roses,  jessamine  and  other 
flowers  were  in  full  bloom. 


IN    THE    EARLY   REPUBLIC    387 

"  I  observed  many  well  dressed  women, 
this  evening,  sitting  on  the  steps  in  front  of 
their  houses,"  continues  this  writer.  "  In  most 
countries  this  would  be  considered  an  equivocal 
intimation  of  their  character,  but  here  it  is 
done  without  impropriety  by  the  most  respect- 
able. .  .  .  There  is  a  public  ball  here,  two  or 
three  times  a  week,  which  includes  all  the  colored 
ladies  of  the  place  known  by  the  name  of  quad- 
roons. Many  I  have  seen  are  really  beautiful 
girls;  their  blood  is  a  mixture  of  Indian,  African 
and  French.  They  have  generally  European 
countenances  and  features,  very  black  hair  and 
eyes,  and  the  complexion  of  the  very  darkest 
brunette."  Which  brings  us  squarely  face  to 
face  with  the  distinctive  feature  of  New  Orleans 
—  its  large  quadroon  population  and  the  prob- 
lems thus  engendered. 

Mrs.  Trollope  has  put  the  matter  with  ad- 
mirable conciseness:  "  Our  stay  there  was 
not  long  enough,"  she  writes,  "  to  permit  our 
entering  into  society,  but  I  was  told  that 
it  contained  two  distinct  sets  of  people,  both 
celebrated  in  their  way  for  their  social  meetings 
and  elegant  entertainments.  The  first  of  these 
is  composed  of  Creole  families,  who  are  chiefly 
planters  and  merchants  with  their  wives  and 
daughters;  these  meet  together,  eat  together 
and  are  very  grand  and  aristocratic;  each  of  their 
balls  is  a  little  Almack's,  and  every  portly  dame 


388  ROMANTIC   DAYS 

of  the  set  is  as  exclusive  in  her  principles  as  a 
lady  patroness.  The  other  set  consists  of  the 
excluded  but  amiable  quadroons,  and  such  of 
the  gentlemen  of  the  former  class  as  can  by 
any  means  escape  from  the  high  places,  where 
pure  Creole  blood  swells  the  veins  at  the  bare 
mention  of  any  being  tainted  in  the  remotest 
degree  with  the  Negro  stain.  Of  all  the  preju- 
dices I  have  ever  witnessed,  this  appears  to  me 
the  most  violent  and  the  most  inveterate. 
Quadroon  girls,  the  acknowledged  daughters 
of  wealthy  American  or  Creole  fathers,  educated 
with  all  of  style  and  accomplishments  which 
money  can  procure  at  New  Orleans,  and  with  all 
the  decorum  that  care  and  affection  can  give; 
exquisitely  beautiful,  graceful,  gentle  and  ami- 
able, they  are  not  admitted,  nay,  are  not  on 
any  terms  admissible  into  the  society  of  the 
Creole  families  of  Louisiana.  They  cannot 
marry;  that  is  to  say  no  money  can  render 
a  union  with  them  legal  or  binding;  yet,  such 
is  the  powerful  effect  of  their  very  peculiar 
grace,  beauty,  and  sweetness  of  manner,  that 
unfortunately  they  perpetually  become  the  ob- 
jects of  choice  and  affection.  If  the  Creole 
ladies  have  privilege  to  exercise  the  awful 
power  of  repulsion,  the  gentle  quadroon  has 
the  sweet  but  dangerous  vengeance  of  possessing 
that  of  attraction.  The  unions  formed  with 
this  unfortunate  race  are  said  to  be  often  lasting 


IN    THE    EARLY   REPUBLIC    389 

and  happy,  as  far  as  any  unions  can  be  so  to 
which  a  certain  degree  of  disgrace  is  attached." 

What  Mrs.  Trollope,  however,  quite  over- 
looked, in  her  statement  of  this  inherently 
tragic  situation,  Charles  Dudley  Warner  has 
very  lucidly  brought  out:1  the  instinct,  that  is, 
which  should  exist  in  both  races  against  mixture 
of  blood.  "  Upon  this  rests  the  law  of  Loui- 
siana," he  says,  "  which  forbids  intermarriages 
between  the  white  and  colored  races.  The  time 
may  come  when  the  colored  people  will  be  as 
strenuous  in  insisting  upon  its  execution  as 
the  whites,  unless  there  is  a  great  change  in 
popular  feeling,  of  which  there  is  no  sign  at 
present.  It  is  they  who  will  see  that  there  is  no 
escape  from  the  equivocal  position  in  which 
those  nearly  white  in  appearance  find  themselves 
except  by  a  rigid  separation  of  races.  The  danger 
is  of  the  reversal  at  any  time  to  the  original  type, 
and  that  is  always  present  to  the  offspring  of  any 
one  with  a  drop  of  African  blood  in  the  veins.  The 
pathos  of  this  situation  is  infinite;  and  it  cannot 
be  lessened  by  saying  that  the  prejudice  about 
color  is  unreasonable;  it  exists." 

Shall  we  not  here  again  qualify  by  saying, 
instead,  that  it  should  exist?  The  sad  thing  and 
the  baffling  thing  about  miscegenation  is  that 
the  white  father  was  never  very  greatly  shocked 
by  his  son's  illegitimate  connection  with  a  col- 

1  In  Harper's  Monthly  Magazine  for  January,  1887. 


390 

ored  girl,  and  the  colored  mother  always  felt  joy 
instead  of  repulsion  at  the  proposition  that  her 
child  become  the  wife  of  a  white  man.  Among 
the  quadroon  mothers  this  latter  attitude  was 
exceedingly  common.  The  great  ambition  of 
the  unmarried  quadroon  mother,  especially, 
was  to  have  her  daughter  pass  for  white  and  so 
get  access  to  the  privileged  class.  To  reach 
this  end,  there  was  nothing  she  would  not  at- 
tempt, no  sacrifice  she  was  not  glad  to  make. 
The  passage  of  a  law  declaring  it  a  penal  offence 
for  a  public  officer  in  the  discharge  of  his  func- 
tions, when  writing  down  the  name  of  any 
colored  free  person,  to  fail  to  add  ,the  quali- 
fication "  homme  "  or  "  femme  de  couleur  libre  " 
made  no  great  difference,  for  officers  of  the  law 
could  be  bribed  and  even  the  records  of  baptism 
altered. 

When  it  is  recollected  that,  as  early  as  1788, 
there  were  no  less  than  fifteen  hundred  of  these 
free  colored  folk  (who  were  never,  by  any  chance, 
called  negro)  in  the  colony  it  may  be  imagined 
that,  by  the  time  of  Mrs.  Trollope's  visit,  they 
represented  a  very  real  social  problem.  So  keen 
an  observer  as  the  Duke  of  Saxe- Weimar  who, 
in  the  interest  of  science  (?),  was  glad  to  frequent 
the  quadroon  balls,  records  that  the  women  of 
this  class  could  not  be  detected  by  the  color 
of  their  skins,  that  they  dressed  well  and  grace- 
fully and,  under  the  eyes  of  their  mothers,  con- 


IN    THE   EARLY   REPUBLIC    391 

ducted  themselves  with  all  modesty  and  pro- 
priety. None  the  less,  by  reason  of  their  aver- 
sion to  marrying  men  of  their  own  color,  the 
better-educated  and  more  prosperous  of  these 
women  naturally  presented  a  distinct  menace 
to  good  morals. 

How  tragic  the  situation  became  when  a 
decent  young  white  fellow  fell  honestly  in 
love  with  one  of  these  quadroons  has  nowhere 
been  better  brought  out  in  fiction  than  in  Cable's 
exquisite  story  of  'Tite  Poulette.1  The  girl's 
mother,  in  this  case,  was  a  paid  dancer  in  the  Salle 
de  Conde,  and  the  interest  of  the  reader  is  first 
piqued  by  the  declaration  that  her  child  never 
goes  to  the  quadroon  ball-room  where  Monsieur 
John,  the  girl's  father,  had  been  wont,  long  ago, 
in  the  good  old  times  of  duels,  to  disport  him- 
self with  Zalli,  "  a  palish  handsome  woman 
whom  you  would  hardly  have  thought  to  be 
*  colored.' '  In  the  story,  however,  it  turns 
out  that  'Tite  Poulette  is  not  Zalli's  child  at 
all  and  so  is  free  to  marry  the  honest  Dutchman 
who  loves  her  and  who  has  been  struggling  with 
all  his  might  against  a  deep  conviction  that, 
in  spite  of  his  inclinations,  the  blacks  and  the 
whites  should  not  mingle  their  blood.  In  actual 
life  the  girl  would  still  have  been  a  quadroon  and 
the  problem  would  have  remained. 

1  In  Old  Creole  Days,  by  George  W.  Cable,  New  York,  Charles 
Scribner'a  Sons. 


392  ROMANTIC   DAYS 

Many  of  the  free  colored  men  were  quite 
prosperous  and  happy,  several  owned  cotton 
and  sugar  plantations,  which  were  worked  by 
numerous  slaves,  and  to  which  such  profits  ac- 
crued that  they  could  easily  send  their  children 
to  France  for  the  best  possible  education. 
Those  who  remained  in  France  often  attained 
distinction  in  scientific  and  literary  circles, 
while  those  who  returned  to  New  Orleans  and 
became  successful  musicians,  merchants,  real 
estate  brokers  and  the  like  had  as  much  ob- 
jection to  associating  with  the  blacks  on  terms 
of  equality  as  any  white  man  could  have  to 
associating  with  them.  At  the  Orleans  theatre 
they  attended  their  mothers,  wives  and  sisters 
in  the  second  tier,  reserved  exclusively  for  them, 
and  where  no  white  person  of  either  sex  would 
have  been  permitted  to  intrude.  But  they  were 
not  admitted  to  the  quadroon  balls,  and  when 
white  gentlemen  visited  their  families  it  was  the 
accepted  etiquette  for  them  never  to  be  present. 
The  quadroons  of  the  humbler  classes  were  me- 
chanics, and  were  most  respectable;  they  gener- 
ally married  women  of  their  own  status  and 
led  quiet  lives  in  middle-class  comfort. 

Among  the  Creole  women  Mrs.  Edward 
Livingston  was  long  the  acknowledged  leader. 
Born  in  the  island  of  St.  Domingo  in  1782,  of 
ancient  and  distinguished  French  family,  she 
early  acquired  a  passion  for  books  and  taught 


Copyrighted  by  the  Detroit   Publishing   Co. 

ANDREW    JACKSON. 

From  the  portrait  by  Sully  in  the  possession  of  the  Corcoran  Art  Gallery,   Washing- 
ton. 


IN    THE   EARLY   REPUBLIC    393 

herself  to  enjoy  the  literature  of  many  languages. 
At  the  age  of  thirteen  she  was  married  to 
Moreau  de  Lassy,  a  French  gentleman  of  fortune, 
who  took  her  to  Jamaica  to  reside.  But  at 
eighteen  she  was  left  a  widow  and,  just  before 
the  Revolution,  returned  to  her  parents  in  St. 
Domingo.  Obliged  to  flee,  when  the  insurrection 
broke  out,  she  found  herself  in  New  Orleans 
just  as  the  city  was  undergoing  its  transition 
to  an  American  possession.  Thus  she  soon 
made  the  acquaintance  of  Edward  Livingston, 
a  widower  twenty  years  her  senior  and  a  lawyer 
of  great  ability.  Mrs.  Livingston's  uncle,  M. 
Jules  dAvezac,  who  became  the  first  director 
of  the  College  of  New  Orleans,  was  one  of  the 
inmates  of  the  Livingstons'  Chartres  Street 
home,  a  house  soon  known  all  over  the  South 
by  reason  of  the  warm  welcome  it  accorded  to 
strangers  of  distinction  and  because  conversation 
of  the  very  highest  order  might  always  be  there 
enjoyed.  Here  General  Jackson  was  entertained 
at  dinner  just  before  the  battle  of  New  Orleans, 
bearing  himself  with  such  dignity,  it  is  interest- 
ing to  add,  that  Mrs.  Livingston  then  surrendered 
for  all  time  to  his  extraordinary  personal  charm. 
Thus  when  the  "  hero  of  New  Orleans  "  be- 
came President  of  the  United  States  this  lady, 
who  was  then  herself  living  in  Washington, 
was  able  and  glad  to  render  many  friendly 
services  to  Mrs.  Donelson,  who  acted  as  mis- 


394  ROMANTIC    DAYS 

tress  of  the  White  House  for  her  widowed 
uncle. 

In  1822  Mr.  Livingston  left  New  Orleans 
to  enter  political  life  in  Washington,  represent- 
ing Louisiana  as  a  member  of  the  lower  house. 
Afterwards  he  became  a  senator,  and  later  still 
Secretary  of  State  under  Jackson.  Meanwhile 
Mrs.  Livingston's  salon  became  famous  in 
Washington  just  as  it  had  been  in  New  Orleans. 
Clay,  Calhoun,  Webster,  Wirt,  Chief  Justice 
Marshall,  Joseph  Story  and  John  Randolph  all 
flocked  to  the  side  of  this  lovely  woman,  con- 
cealing, for  the  nonce,  in  her  presence,  the  bitter 
differences  which  divided  them  in  the  House  or 
Senate.  John  Randolph,  who  could  give  un- 
qualified approval  to  very  few  people  or  things 
in  life,  never  wavered  in  his  allegiance  to  Mrs. 
Livingston,  writing  her  husband  when,  in  1833, 
that  gentleman  had  been  offered  the  position 
of  Minister  to  France,  "  Let  me  conjure  you 
to  accept  the  mission,  for  which  you  are  better 
qualified  than  any  man  in  the  United  States. 
In  Mrs.  Livingston,  to  whom  present  my  warm- 
est respects,  you  have  a  most  able  coadjutor. 
Dowdies,  dowdies  won't  do  for  European  courts, 
Paris  especially.  There  and  at  London,  the 
character  of  the  minister's  wife  is  almost  as 
important  as  his  own.  It  is  the  very  place  for 
her.  There  she  would  dazzle  and  charm." 

The  only  daughter  of  the  Livingstons,  Cora, 


IN    THE    EARLY   REPUBLIC    395 

who  became  Mrs.  Thomas  Pennant  Barton 
just  before  her  father  left  for  France,  was  a  New 
Orleans  belle  at  sixteen,  a  Washington  belle 
at  twenty  and  a  Paris  belle  during  the  years  of 
her  young  wifehood.  Having  derived  from  her 
father  a  sound  knowledge  of  the  political 
questions  of  the  day  and  from  her  mother  grace, 
beauty  and  a  high  degree  of  social  charm,  it 
is  no  wonder  that  Josiah  Quincy,  a  specialist 
in  descriptions  of  fair  young  women,  was  able 
to  ascribe  to  her  his  choicest  and  his  most  en- 
thusiastic adjectives.  I  like  especially,  however, 
the  paragraph  with  which  he  ends  his  tribute, 
linking  as  it  does  the  Cora  Livingston  of  New 
Orleans  with  the  gracious  Mrs.  Barton  whose 
name  is  now  memorialized  in  the  valuable  Bar- 
ton collection  1  of  folio  Shakespeares  and  some 
twelve  thousand  related  volumes  in  the  posses- 
sion of  the  Boston  Public  Library.  "  Interesting 
old  volumes  they  are,"  says  Quincy,  "  highly 
prized  by  the  many  owners  through  whose 
fingers  they  have  slipped;  and  containing,  as 
we  all  know,  some  good  descriptions  of  what 
is  delightful  in  woman.  But  there  will  be  one 
association  the  less  with  them  when  I  am  no 

1  Mr.  Barton  was  a  man  of  scholarly  tastes,  and  accumulated 
a  library  which,  at  the  time  of  his  death,  was  considered  one  of  the 
most  valuable  private  collections  hi  America.  He  bequeathed  it 
to  his  wife  with  the  request  that  she  make  such  disposition  of  it  as 
best  pleased  her.  Shortly  before  her  death  she  arranged  for  its 
transfer,  in  its  entirety,  to  the  city  of  Boston. 


396  ROMANTIC    DAYS 

longer  able  to  climb  the  stairs  which  lead  to  Bates 
Hall.  There  will  then  be  no  one  left  to  tell 
how  their  last  private  possessor  once  seemed 
to  fill  the  most  perfect  outline  of  a  charming  woman 
that  the  poet  has  drawn" 


CHAPTER  VIII 

BOSTON   AND   SOME   OTHER   CITIES   OF  NEW   ENG- 
LAND 

AN  Englishman,  who  was  a  resident  of 
Boston  at  about  the  middle  of  the  nine- 
teenth century,  is  reputed  to  have  de- 
clared that  everything  essential  to  the  most 
agreeable  society  existed  there  "  with  one  ex- 
ception and  that  is  the  spirit  of  sociability." 
In  the  forties  the  Bostonian's  notion  of  cordial 
hospitality  seems  to  have  been  inviting  the 
stranger  within  his  gates  to  occupy  a  place  in 
the  family  pew  at  church;  Dickens  says  that 
on  his  visit  to  the  city  he  was  offered  as  many 
sittings  as  would  have  accommodated  a  score  or 
two  of  grown  up  families!  And  there  is  even  a 
story  —  let  us  hope  it  is  apocryphal  —  of  a 
certain  Bostonian  who,  in  return  for  cordial 
entertainment  enjoyed  by  him  and  his  wife 
while  in  Europe,  invited  his  former  hostess 
to  call  at  his  house  on  a  Sunday  evening  after 
tea,  at  which  time  his  wife  and  himself  would 
go  with  her  to  church  and  give  her  a  place  in 
their  pew! 


398  ROMANTIC    DAYS 

All  these  carefully-restrained  overtures  to- 
wards entertainment  were  of  the  middle  nineteenth 
century  or  later,  however.  Tracing  backward  the 
history  l  of  Boston's  attitude  toward  the  visitor 
from  without,  the  hospitality-temperature  will 
be  found  constantly  on  the  rise.  Fanny  Kemble, 
who  was  here  in  the  thirties,  has  only  praise  for 
Boston's  kindliness  in  this  way.  Philip  Hone, 
who  came  a  little  earlier  and  wrote  about  his 
experiences,  is  even  more  enthusiastic  —  and  so 
it  goes  until,  when  we  get  back  to  the  time  of  the 
Marquis  de  Chastellux's  visit,  we  find  Bostonians 
as  cordial  and  as  resourceful  in  the  matter  of 
making  their  guests  happy  as  —  even  Southern- 
ers could  be.  Certainly,  as  we  read  de  Chas- 
tellux's account  of  his  visit,  we  are  convinced 
that  he  had  a  thoroughly  "  good  time  "  while 
here. 

"  Although  I  knew  that  Mr.  Dumas  had  pre- 
pared me  a  lodging,"  he  writes,  "  I  found  it 
more  convenient  to  alight  to  Mr.  Brackett's, 
the  Cromwell's  Head,  where  I  dined.  After 
dinner  I  went  to  the  lodgings  prepared  for  me  at 
Mr.  Colson's  a  glover  in  the  main  street.  As 
I  was  dressing  to  wait  on  the  Marquis  de 
Vaudreuil,  he  called  upon  me,  and  after  per- 
mitting me  to  finish  the  business  of  the  toilet, 
we  went  together  to  Dr.  Cooper's  and  thence 

1  See  Old  Boston   Days  and  Ways  and  Romantic  Days  in  Old 
Boston. 


IN    THE   EARLY   REPUBLIC    399 

to  the  association  ball  where  I  was  received  by 
my  old  acquaintance  Mr.  Brick  [Breck]  who  was 
one  of  the  managers.  Here  I  remained  till 
ten  o'clock;  the  Marquis  de  Vaudreuil  opened 
the  ball  with  Mrs.  Temple.  Then  followed  the 
minuet  which  did  honor  to  the  French  nation; 
but  I  am  sorry  to  say  that  the  contrast  was 
considerable  between  the  Frenchman  and  the 
Americans  who  are  in  general  very  awkward, 
particularly  in  the  minuet. 

'  The  prettiest  woman-dancers  were  Mrs. 
Jarvis,  her  sister  Miss  Betsy  Broom  and  Mrs. 
Whitmore.  The  ladies  were  all  well  dressed, 
but  with  less  elegance  and  refinement  than  at 
Philadelphia.  The  assembly  room  was  superb 
in  a  good  style  of  architecture,  well  decorated 
and  well  lighted.  .  .  .  And  there  is  good  order 
and  every  necessary  refreshment. 

'  The  15th  in  the  morning  M.  de  Vaudreuil 
and  M.  de  Tombes,  the  French  Consul,  called 
on  me  the  moment  I  was  going  out  to  visit 
them.  After  some  conversation  we  went  first 
to  wait  on  Gov.  Hancock  who  was  ill  of  the 
gout  and  unable  to  receive  us;  thence  we  went 
to  Mr.  Bowdoin's,  Mr.  Brick's  and  Mr.  Cushing's, 
the  deputy  Governor.  I  dined  with  the  Marquis 
de  Vaudreuil  and  after  dinner  drank  tea  at 
Mr.  Bowdoin's  who  engaged  us  to  supper,  only 
allowing  M.  de  Vaudreuil  and  myself  half  an  hour 
to  pay  a  visit  to  Mrs.  Gushing.  The  evening  was 


400  ROMANTIC   DAYS 

spent  agreeably  in  a  company  of  about  twenty 
persons,  among  whom  was  Mrs.  Whitmore  and 
young  Mrs.  Bowdoin,  who  was  a  new  acquaint- 
ance for  me,  not  having  seen  her  at  Boston  when 
I  was  there  the  preceding  year.  She  has  a  mild 
and  agreeable  countenance,  and  a  character 
corresponding  with  her  appearance. 

"  The  next  morning  I  went  with  the  Marquis 
de  Vaudreuil  to  pay  some  other  visits,  and 
dined  with  Mr.  Brick  where  were  upwards  of 
thirty  persons  and  among  others  Mrs.  Tudor, 
Mrs.  Morton,  Mrs.  Swan,  etc.  The  two  former 
understood  French;  Mrs.  Tudor  in  particular 
knows  it  perfectly  and  speaks  it  tolerably  well. 
I  was  very  intimate  with  her  during  my  stay 
at  Boston  and  found  her  possessed  not  only  of 
understanding  but  of  grace  and  delicacy  in  her 
mind  and  manners.  After  dinner  tea  was  served 
which,  being  over,  Mr.  Brick  in  some  sort  in- 
sisted, but  very  politely,  on  our  staying  to 
supper.  This  supper  was  on  table  exactly  four 
hours  after  we  rose  from  dinner;  it  may  be  im- 
agined, therefore,  that  we  did  not  eat  much, 
but  the  Americans  paid  some  little  compliments 
to  it;  for  in  general  they  eat  less  than  we  do 
at  their  repasts,  but  as  often  as  you  choose, 
which  in  my  opinion  is  a  very  bad  method. 
Their  aliments  behave  with  their  stomachs, 
as  we  do  in  France  on  paying  visits :  they  never 
depart  till  they  see  others  enter." 


IN    THE   EARLY   REPUBLIC    401 

In  Portsmouth  the  Marquis  had  been  enter- 
tained with  similar  generosity,  particularly  by 
the  Langdons.  "  After  dinner  we  went  to 
drink  tea  with  Mr.  Langdon,"  we  read.  "  He 
is  a  handsome  man  and  of  a  noble  carriage; 
he  has  been  a  member  of  Congress  and  is  now 
one  of  the  first  people  of  the  country.  His 
house  is  elegant  and  well-furnished  and  the 
apartments  admirably  well  wainscotted.  Mrs. 
Langdon,  his  wife,  is  young,  fair  and  tolerably 
handsome,  but  I  conversed  less  with  her  than 
with  her  husband  in  whose  favour  I  was  preju- 
diced, from  knowing  that  he  had  displayed  great 
courage  and  patriotism  at  the  time  of  Burgoyne's 
expedition.  ...  As  he  was  marching  day  and 
night,  reposing  himself  only  in  the  woods,  a 
negro  servant  who  attended  him  said  to  him, 
'  Master,  you  are  hurting  yourself,  but  no  matter; 
you  are  going  to  fight  for  liberty;  I  also  should 
suffer  patiently  if  I  had  liberty  to  defend.' 
'  Don't  let  that  stop  you,'  replied  Mr.  Langdon. 
'  From  this  moment  you  are  free.' ' 

On  the  way  back  from  Portsmouth  the  Mar- 
quis made  a  pleasurable  stay  at  Newburyport, 
and  of  that  town,  also,  he  gives  us  an  inter- 
esting snap-shot  picture.  "  After  passing  the 
ferry  in  little  flat  boats  which  held  only  five 
horses  each,  we  went  to  Mr.  Davenport's  inn, 
where  we  found  a  good  dinner  ready.  I  had 
letters  from  Mr.  Wentworth  to  Mr.  John 


402  ROMANTIC   DAYS 

Tracy,  the  most  considerable  merchant  in  the 
place;  but  before  I  had  time  to  send  them  he 
had  heard  of  my  arrival,  and  as  I  was  rising 
from  table  entered  the  room  and  very  politely 
invited  me  to  pass  the  evening  with  him.  .  .  . 
His  house  stands  a  mile  from  the  town  in  a 
very  beautiful  situation;  but  of  this  I  could  my- 
self form  no  judgment  as  it  was  already  night. 
I  went,  however,  by  moonlight  to  see  the  garden 
which  is  composed  of  different  terraces.  There 
is  likewise  a  hot-house  and  a  number  of  young 
trees.  The  house  is  very  handsome  and  well- 
furnished  and  everything  breathes  that  air  of 
magnificence  accompanied  by  simplicity  which 
is  only  to  be  found  among  merchants.  The 
evening  passed  rapidly  by  the  aid  of  agreeable 
conversation  and  a  few  glasses  of  punch.  The 
ladies  we  found  assembled  were  Mrs.  Tracy, 
her  two  sisters,  and  their  cousin,  Miss  Lee. 
Mrs.  Tracy  has  an  agreeable  and  a  sensible 
countenance  and  her  manners  correspond  with 
her  appearance.  At  ten  o'clock  an  excellent 
supper  was  served,  we  drank  good  wine,  Miss 
Lee  sang  and  prevailed  upon  Messieurs  de 
Vaudreuil  and  Talleyrand  to  sing  also:  towards 
midnight  the  ladies  withdrew  but  we  continued 
drinking  Madeira  and  Xery." 

So  far  as  we  know,  this  particular  visitor  from 
over-seas  did  not  venture  out  to  Quincy  in  the 
course  of  his  New  England  tour.  Had  he  done 


IN    THE    EARLY   REPUBLIC    403 

so,  there  would  have  been  an  enthusiastic  ac- 
count, I  am  sure,  of  hospitality  enjoyed  in  one 
old  house  there.  With  the  single  exception  of 
Mount  Vernon  there  is  probably  in  all  America 
no  Colonial  mansion  of  more  intrinsic  interest 
than  the  Dorothy  Q  House  in  Quincy,  Massachu- 
setts, which  the  Colonial  Dames  of  the  Old 
Bay  State  bought  about  five  years  ago  and  now 
maintain  as  a  show-place  for  historical  and  other 
pilgrims.  Great  credit  is  due  the  members  of 
this  organization  for  the  well-nigh  perfect  man- 
ner in  which  the  house  has  been  made  fresh  and 
attractive  without  sacrificing  in  the  slightest 
the  traditions  of  Colonial  architecture  or  doing 
violence  to  any  one  of  its  romantic  associations. 

The  Dorothy  Q  House  is  almost  as  old  as  the 
Commonwealth  itself  —  the  rear  part  was  built 
in  1636  —  and  is  associated  with  many  of  the 
distinguished  men  and  women  who  made  the 
Commonwealth  and  established  its  fame.  The 
estate  passed  out  of  the  hands  of  the  Quincys  a 
century  ago;  but  in  Colonial  times  almost  all  the 
eminent  members  of  that  race  were  either  born 
there  or  lived  there  part  of  their  days.  John 
Adams  and  John  Quincy  Adams  frequently 
visited  the  inmates  of  this  home,  and  its  hos- 
pitable roof  has  sheltered  many  others  known 
to  fame,  such  as  Sir  Harry  Vane,  Judge  Sewall, 
Benjamin  Franklin  and  Sir  Harry  Frankland. 

Visitors  who  today  go  to  Quincy  and  seek 


404  ROMANTIC    DAYS 

out  this  venerable  mansion  find  much  of  interest 
to  them,  even  if  they  be  quite  ignorant  of  the 
historic  side  of  the  house.  None  the  less  the 
various  rooms  should  ideally  be  enjoyed  in 
the  light  of  the  hallowed  traditions  with  which 
they  are  indissolubly  linked.  Otherwise  the 
quaint  furniture  might  just  as  well  be  in  the 
show-rooms  of  an  enterprising  dealer  in  an- 
tiques. 

Let  us  begin  with  the  garden,  here  an  integral 
part  of  the  house,  as  all  Colonial  gardens  were. 
Approaching  from  the  street,  one  walks  back 
several  hundred  yards  through  magnolia  and 
mulberry  trees  set  off  with  rhododendron,  along 
a  narrow  path  neatly  bordered  with  a  relic  of 
that  famous  box  upon  which  Dorothy  Q  dried 
her  laces  nearly  two  hundred  years  ago.  At 
the  left  is  the  brook  which  the  town  of  Quincy 
has  lately  dammed  up  and  over  which  there  will 
soon  be  placed  a  rustic  bridge  such  as  was  there 
when  Agnes  Surriage  came  to  the  house  with 
her  handsome  Sir  Harry  Frankland,  and  the 
whole  party  fished  for  eels,  which  they  merrily 
cooked  for  supper. 

At  the  left  as  one  enters  the  noble  front  door 
is  the  parlor,  with  its  renowned  Venus  and 
Cupid  wall-paper,  which  was  brought  from  Paris 
expressly  for  the  wedding  of  John  Hancock 
and  his  Dorothy  Q.  The  design  shows  double 
panels  upon  which  very  natural-looking  Birds 


IN    THE   EARLY   REPUBLIC    405 

of  Paradise  disport  themselves.     In  one  Cupid 
appears   to  be  wooing  the  shy  Venus;   in  the 
other  she  has  dispatched  him  with  an  affirm- 
ative answer,  and  he  is  proceeding  happily  away 
through  pendent  wreaths  of   red   flowers.      It 
seems  a  pity  that  paper  so  eminently  fitted  to 
nuptial  rites  should  not  have  graced  the  Han- 
cock wedding  after  all.    But  English  spies  were 
keeping  a  keen  lookout  for  Patriot  Hancock 
about  that  time,  and  he  was  obliged  to  go  into 
hiding  in  the  Lexington  parsonage  (now  known 
as  the  Clark  House),  where  his  father  had  been 
born.     To   visit   him   his   aunt,    Mme.   Lydia 
Hancock,  and  his  fiancee,  Dorothy,  took  coach 
April  18,  1775;  and  it  was  the  resultant  happy 
meeting  which  Paul  Revere  interrupted  when, 
having  ridden  for  his  life  to  warn  Hancock  that 
the   British   were   approaching,   he   arrived   in 
Lexington  about  midnight  of  that  memorable 
day.     Hancock  had,  of  course,  to  flee  again; 
the    ladies    meanwhile    withdrew    to    Fairfield, 
Connecticut,  the  home  of  Rev.  Thaddeus  Burr, 
another  kinsman.    And  in  spite  of  the  Cupids 
trailing  their  pink  and  blue  wreaths  over   the 
parlor  walls  of  the  home  at  Quincy  the  wedding 
they  were  to  celebrate  very  nearly  failed]  to 
come  off. 

For  fascinating  Aaron  Burr,  whom  no  woman 
was  ever  able  to  resist,  came  visiting  his  uncle 
Thaddeus  just  then,  and  it  required  all  Aunt 


406  ROMANTIC   DAYS 

Lydia  Hancock's  watchfulness  to  prevent  an 
elopement  as  a  result  of  the  desperate  flirtation 
which  ensued  between  him  and  Dorothy  Q. 
On  August  28,  1776,  the  postponed  wedding 
was  celebrated  at  Fairfield,  however,  John 
Hancock  taking  his  wife  directly  to  Philadelphia, 
where  they  soon  set  up  in  a  fine  house  of  their 


own.1 


There  is  much,  however,  besides  the  wedding 
wall-paper  to  interest  us  in  the  parlor  of  the 
Dorothy  Q  House.  For  the  room  is  rich  in 
beautiful  historic  pieces.  A  Chippendale  look- 
ing-glass with  a  delicate  decoration  of  raised 
gold  wheat  on  its  frame  attracts  universal  ad- 
miration. Only  one  other  similar  glass  is  known, 
and  that  reposes  in  the  Dedham  Historical 
House.  Beneath  the  wheat  looking-glass  is 
a  card-table  of  exquisite  design,  with  corner 
stands  for  candles,  grooves  for  chips  and  a 
secret  drawer.  Near  by  is  an  old  Dutch  chair 
worm-eaten  with  age,  and  flanking  it  a  six-legged 
table  —  one  of  the  freaks  of  early  cabinet- 
makers —  which  supports  the  oldest  known  of 
hour-glasses. 

Adjoining  the  parlor  is  the  music-room 
with  its  quaint  old-fashioned  spinet.  Why  do 
we  not  have  spinets  in  these  days?  This 

1  See  my  chapter  "  John  Hancock  and  his  Dorothy  "  in  Old 
Boston  Days  and  Ways.  Much  hitherto  unavailable  data  about  Han- 
cock will  doubtless  be  found,  too,  in  John  Hancock:  The  Picturesque 
Patriot,  by  Lorenzo  Sears,  just  published. 


IN    THE    EARLY   REPUBLIC    407 

question  has  been  haunting  me  ever  since  I 
enjoyed  the  privilege  of  playing  the  "  William 
Fether,  London "  instrument  in  the  music- 
room  of  the  Dorothy  Q  House.  The  finest  grand 
piano  that  I  have  ever  touched  yields  no  such 
pleasure.  The  tone  produced  by  the  picking  of 
the  goose-quills  against  the  strings  is  at  once 
delicate  and  satisfying.  On  the  case  one  is 
promised,  in  impressive  Latin,  "  oblivion  to 
cares  of  life  while  playing."  For  once  an  ad- 
vertisement does  not  overstate.  Music-lovers, 
revive  the  spinet! 

Upstairs,  over  the  parlor,  is  the  guest-or- 
bridal-chamber,  containing  a  bed  built  for 
Lafayette's  use  when  on  his  New  England  visit 
and  now  loaned  to  this  house.  In  the  room  the 
bed  adorns  Washington,  Sir  Harry  Frankland,  of 
romantic  memory,  and  Benjamin  Franklin  have 
all  slept.  The  last-named  presented  to  his  host, 
after  one  of  his  visits,  the  Franklin  stove  there 
today. 

Another  very  delightful  place  of  pilgrimage, 
which  has  an  intimate  connection  with  New 
England  of  the  early  Republican  period,  is 
the  hospitable  brick  mansion  in  Portland,  Maine, 
in  which  (1807)  Henry  Wadsworth  Longfellow 
first  saw  the  light.  Though  it  is  now  in  the 
heart  of  a  busy  city,  this  house,  when  built, 
was  on  the  outskirts  of  the  town  surrounded  by 
rolling  green  fields,  with  the  ocean  dimly  dis- 


408  ROMANTIC   DAYS 

cernible  in  one  direction  and  the  austere  White 
Mountains  standing  grandly  out  against  the 
sky  at  the  western  horizon. 

General  Peleg  Wadsworth  conveyed  all  the 
way  from  Philadelphia  the  bricks  for  his  hand- 
some new  home  for,  before  the  date  of  its  erec- 
tion (1785),  Portland  had  no  brick  houses.  The 
man  who  could  afford  such  a  house  as  this  one, 
at  a  time  when  building  materials  brought  such 
prices  as  they  did  immediately  after  the  Revolu- 
tionary War,  must  needs  have  been  a  person 
of  prominence  and  property.  So,  indeed,  we 
find  General  Wadsworth  to  have  been.  Grad- 
uated from  Harvard  in  1769,  he  was  among  the 
first  to  organize  a  company  to  resist  the  tyranny 
of  the  mother  country.  In  the  fortification  of 
Roxbury  and  Dorchester  Heights  he  rendered 
valuable  service,  and  in  1778  he  was  appointed 
adjutant-general  of  Massachusetts.  A  year 
or  two  later  he  was  placed  in  command  of  the 
troops  on  the  Maine  coast.  All  this  time, 
however,  the  doughty  soldier  was  a  citizen  of 
Plymouth,  Mass.  It  was  not  until  1784  that 
he  proceeded  from  the  Pilgrims'  country  to 
Portland,  bringing  with  him  his  wife  (who  had 
been  Miss  Elizabeth  Bartlett,  of  Plymouth),  a 
lady  of  fine  manners  and  all  womanly  virtues, 
"  who  was  alike  his  friend  and  comforter  in 
hours  of  trial  and  the  grace  and  ornament  of 
his  house  in  the  days  of  prosperity." 


IN    THE   EARLY   REPUBLIC    409 

The  associations  of  this  house  have  been  al- 
most all  those  of  prosperity.  I  have  a  shrewd 
suspicion  that  this  is  one  reason  the  place  is 
so  popular.  One  likes  to  trace  in  imagination 
the  many  pleasant  happenings  with  which  the 
old  furniture  and  the  curious  kitchen  things 
have  been  intimately  connected,  and  to  recall 
that  the  piano,  which  is  still  in  the  parlor  at 
the  left  of  the  entrance  hall,  was  the  first  ever 
brought  to  Portland,  and  elicited  so  much  ad- 
miring curiosity  that  the  country  people  were 
wont  to  stand  around  the  windows,  looking 
in  when  music  was  being  played.  How  fraught 
with  suggestions  of  real  neighborliness  and 
abundant  leisure  is  the  anecdote! 

When  the  Wadsworth  family  moved  into 
their  fine  new  house  there  were  already  six 
children,  Zilpah,  the  future  mother  of  the  poet, 
being  then  a  maid  of  seven  or  eight.  That  she 
had  something  of  the  literary  gift  her  distin- 
guished son  was  to  possess  to  such  marked  degree 
is  shown  by  this  vivid  description  she  wrote  of 
her  father  as  he  looked  in  the  early  days  of 
their  residence  under  this  fine  old  roof  tree: 

"  Imagine  to  yourself  a  man  of  middle  age, 
well  proportioned,  with  a  military  air,  and  who 
carried  himself  so  truly  that  many  thought  him 
tall.  His  dress,  a  bright  scarlet  coat,  buff  small- 
clothes and  vest,  full  ruffled  bosom,  ruffles 
over  the  hands,  white  stockings,  shoes  with 


410  ROMANTIC   DAYS 

silver  buckles,  white  cravat  bow  in  front, 
hair  well  powdered  and  tied  behind  in  a  club, 
so  called."  To  this,  one  has  only  to  add  a 
cocked  hat  of  black  felt  to  get  General  Peleg 
Wadsworth  exactly  as  he  looks  today  in  the 
portrait  which  hangs  over  the  mantel-piece  of 
the  sitting-room. 

In  the  stately  parlor  of  this  house  were  mar- 
ried, in  1804,  the  parents  of  America's  dearest 
poet.  Zilpah  Wadsworth  had  now  grown  to 
be  a  beautiful  and  gracious  maiden  whom 
Stephen  Longfellow,  a  young  Harvard  graduate 
just  beginning  the  practice  of  law,  accounted 
himself  very  fortunate  to  win  for  his  bride. 
The  Longfellows  had  for  two  or  three  genera- 
tions lived  in  Gorham,  Maine,  where  father  and 
son  were  in  turn  lawyers  of  prominence  and 
where  their  old  home  still  stands.  The  poet's 
father  grew  up  on  this  Gorham  farm. 

In  1808,  the  year  after  the  birth  of  the  poet, 
the  newly-wed  Longfellows  definitely  took 
possession  of  Wadsworth  House.  General  Peleg 
had  the  year  preceding  built  another  noble  man- 
sion for  himself  —  Wadsworth  Hall  —  at  Hiram, 
Maine,  and 'had  there  removed  to  spend  the 
remainder  of  his  days.  The  Portland  house 
thus  came  naturally  enough  to  be  the  home  of 
his  favorite  daughter  and  of  his  lawyer  son-in- 
law.  Here,  therefore,  where  their  life  together 
had  begun,  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Stephen  Longfellow 


IN    THE   EARLY   REPUBLIC    411 

spent  many  happy  years.  Here  the  poet's 
six  brothers  and  sister  were  born.  And  here 
Anne  Longfellow  (Mrs.  George  Pierce)  passed 
almost  her  entire  life,  leaving  the  house,  upon 
her  death  in  1901,  to  the  Maine  Historical 
Society  as  a  memorial  to  her  gifted  brother. 

No  more  fitting  monument  could  well  be 
imagined.  For  it  is  with  these  hallowed 
walls  that  all  the  home  thoughts  and  reminis- 
cences of  him  who  is  pre-eminently  America's 
Poet  of  Home  are  bound  up.  Moreover,  it 
was  from  this  very  house  that  the  gifted  boy 
stole  out  at  the  age  of  thirteen  to  drop  into  the 
box  outside  the  office  of  the  Portland  Gazette 
his  first  published  verses,  "  The  Battle  of  Lovell's 
Pond."  Other  poems  known  to  have  been 
written  wholly  or  in  part  in  this  house,  are 
"  Musings,"  "  The  Spirit  of  Poetry,"  "  Burial 
of  the  Minnisink,"  '  Where  from  the  Eyes  of 
Day,"  "  Song  of  the  Birds,"  "  Changed,"  "  The 
Lighthouse,"  and  "  The  Rainy  Day."  As  one 
sits  at  the  desk  made  famous  by  the  writing  of 
this  last  named  poem  one  may  still  see,  glancing 
out  into  the  garden,  the  vista  that  met  the  poet's 
eye.  This  room  is  now  called  the  "  Den  "  or 
"  Henry's  Room,"  but  it  was  originally  the 
sleeping  apartment  of  General  Wadsworth.  The 
walls  are  decorated  with  paper  brought  from 
Paris  sixty  years  ago. 

Scarcely    less    interesting    than    the    parlor 


412  ROMANTIC   DAYS 

with  its  old-time  piano  and  the  den  with  its 
ink-stained  mahogany  desk  is  the  family  sitting- 
room,  which  was  once  the  law  office  of  the 
poet's  father.  Here  are  dozens  of  pieces  of 
furniture  which  fill  the  collector  with  envy. 
But  the  charm  of  it  all  lies  in  the  fact  that  the 
chairs  and  tables,  the  andirons  and  the  pictures 
have  associations  as  well  as  age.  The  carpet  is 
the  same  as  was  upon  the  floor  at  the  time  of  the 
poet's  last  visit  to  his  old  home,  and  it  was 
against  this  mantel  that  he  often  leaned  as  a 
youth. 

The  poet's  chair  still  stands  by  his  favorite 
windows;  near  it  is  a  sewing-table  that  was  his 
mother's,  and,  on  the  other  side,  the  chair  his 
father  liked  best.  On  the  adjacent  wall  hangs 
a  gilt-framed  mirror  whose  quaint  picture  and 
row  of  tiny  gilt  balls  stamp  it  as  of  his  grand- 
mother Wadsworth's  day. 

Just  across,  a  doorway  leads  into  a  small 
room  built  on  by  Stephen  Longfellow  for  his  law 
office  but  now  sacred  to  shelves  and  cupboards. 
There  is  here  a  single  window  commanding  the 
old  garden;  that  this  room  was  once  a  favorite 
writing  place  for  the  boy  poet  we  must  believe 
from  a  letter  sent  to  his  sister  Elizabeth  during 
his  first  visit  abroad  in  1829:  "My  poetic 
career  is  finished.  Since  I  left  America  I  have 
scarcely  put  two  lines  together  .  .  .  and  no 
soft  poetic  ray  has  irradiated  my  heart  since  the 


IN    THE    EARLY   REPUBLIC    413 

Goths  and  Vandals  crossed  the  Rubicon  of 
the  front  entry  and  turned  the  Sanctum  Sanc- 
torum of  the  '  Little  Room '  into  a  china 
closet." 

No  part  of  the  house,  however,  is  more  inter- 
esting to  students  of  the  early  Republican 
period  than  the  kitchen,  with  its  capacious 
fireplace  and  its  curious  outfit  of  utensils  long 
since  retired  from  use.  The  fireplace  itself  is 
especially  worth  examining  because  of  the  figure 
of  a  fish  on  an  iron  plate  set  into  the  brickwork  on 
the  back,  a  thing  of  which  one  of  the  poet's 
brothers  has  spoken  as  "a  fish  baked  in 
effigy."  Here  the  crane  still  supports  the  pots 
and  kettles  that  hung  from  the  hook  a  century 
ago  and  all  about  the  hearth  are  articles  which 
in  name  as  well  as  in  use  are  quite  strange  to 
visitors  of  the  twentieth  century,  a  Dutch 
oven,  a  tin  kitchen,  a  plate  warmer,  apple 
roaster,  coffee  roaster  and  mills,  a  bread  toaster, 
and  waffle  irons  which  look  like  a  huge  pair  of 
tongs.  Built  into  the  brickwork  at  the  left  is 
the  oven  for  baking,  and  at  the  right  is  a  boiler 
with  the  small  opening  underneath  in  which 
a  fire  was  made  on  washing  days.  The  kitchen 
dresser  near-by  is  likewise  attractive  with  its 
display  of  well-shone  Britannia  tin  and  earthen 
ware.  Here  may  be  seen  the  bread  tray  used 
by  General  Lafayette  when  he  visited  Portland 
in  1825.  Here,  too,  are  candle  moulds  and  Ian- 


414  ROMANTIC   DAYS 

terns  and  the  steelyards  with  which  the  babies 
of  the  family  were  weighed. 

Directly  over  the  parlor,  in  which  the  mother 
of  the  poet  was  married,  is  her  bedroom  in 
which  she  died.  Near  here  is  the  cradle  in 
which  the  baby  Henry  was  rocked,  as  well  as 
a  priceless  collection  of  old  gowns  and  bonnets, 
among  them  the  little  cap  first  worn  by  that 
head  which  was  later  to  be  crowned  with  laurel. 
Here,  too  —  and  this  is  of  special  interest  to 
visitors  —  is  a  copy  of  a  long-forgotten  poem 
in  which  Henry  Longfellow  protested  against 
the  removal  of  this  old  building  when  some  one 
wished  to  replace  it  by  a  more  modern  structure. 

The  room  to  which  the  poet  came  with  his 
bride  is  the  guest  chamber  across  the  hall. 
The  tall,  four-post  bedstead,  with  its  dainty 
hangings  of  dimity  and  its  quaint  coverlet  sug- 
gestive of  a  bygone  day,  is  the  same  now  as  then. 
By  its  side  is  a  wood-bottom  rocking-chair 
which  belonged  to  the  first  mistress  of  the  house. 
It  was  probably  in  this  room  that  the  poet 
slept  during  frequent  visits  made  to  the  house 
after  he  became  famous.  For  he  never  lost  his 
love  for  the  home  of  his  childhood  and  he  rejoiced 
greatly  that  the  conflagration  of  July  4,  1866, 
which  obliterated  so  many  interesting  landmarks 
in  Portland,  left  "  the  family  house  unburned !  " 

Longfellow's  later  life  is  of  course  associated 
chiefly  with  his  beautiful  Cambridge  home,  to 


IN    THE   EARLY   REPUBLIC    415 

which  he  first  (in  1837)  went  as  a  boarder, 
being  then  a  young,  unmarried  professor.  The 
house  was  at  this  time  the  home  of  Mrs.  Andrew 
Craigie,  whose  husband  had  bought  it  (in  1793), 
from  a  brother  of  that  Tracy  we  found  enter- 
taining the  Marquis  de  Chastellux  when  at  New- 
buryport. 

Cambridge  was,  in  those  days,  a  mere  country 
village.  If  you  would  be  thoroughly  convinced 
of  this  look  up  Josiah  Quincy's  vivid  account  — 
in  Figures  of  the  Past  —  of  a  certain  turkey -shoot- 
ing he  once  witnessed  there  of  which  young  Larz 
Anderson  of  Cincinnati  was  the  hero. 

For  our  present  purposes,  however,  it  is  more 
to  the  point  to  turn,  in  this  same  delightful 
volume,  to  Mr.  Quincy's  description  of  Daniel 
Webster's  Boston  reception  on  June  17,  1825. 

"  Summer  Street  was  as  light  as  day,  the 
houses  were  brilliantly  illuminated  and  a  fine 
band  was  stationed  a  few  yards  from  Mr. 
Webster's  door.  The  rooms  were  filled  with 
strangers  from  all  parts  of  the  country.  .  .  .  Mr. 
and  Mrs.  Webster  received  the  compliments 
of  the  hour  with  great  dignity  and  simplicity. 
Of  the  lady  my  journal  says  that  *  she  seemed 
highly  to  enjoy  the  success  and  distinction  of 
her  husband,  but  showed  not  the  slightest 
symptom  of  vanity  or  elation.* 

"  Among  the  ladies  to  whom  I  was  presented 
was  the  famous  Fanny  Wright  —  a  tall  young 


416  ROMANTIC   DAYS 

person  of  about  thirty,  of  pleasing  countenance 
and  wearing  her  hair  cut  short  to  the  head.  She 
had  just  returned  to  America  with  all  the  glory 
of  having  written  a  book  about  us.  She  was 
destined  to  be  still  better  known,  at  a  later  date, 
as  the  promulgator  of  unpopular  theories  and 
as  the  first  of  practical  abolitionists.  The  colony 
of  emancipated  slaves  which  she  established  in 
Tennessee  was  one  of  those  failures  which  are 
better  than  many  things  which  the  world  calls 
successful. 

"  Lafayette  was,  of  course,  at  Mr.  Webster's 
party.  But  the  last  evening  reception  given  the 
distinguished  Frenchman  [before  leaving]  Bos- 
ton took  place  on  Sunday,  at  the  house  of  Mr. 
R.  C.  Derby.  I  have  noted  that,  on  this  oc- 
casion, the  General  was  reintroduced  to  a  lady 
with  whom  he  had  danced  a  minuet  forty -seven 
years  before. 

"  Mr.  Derby's  establishment  was  very  stylish 
and  fashionable;  and  the  names  of  the  guests, 
with  such  titles  as  we  were  so  happy  as  to  pos- 
sess, were  loudly  proclaimed  by  a  servant  as 
we  ascended  the  stairs.  My  sister's  journal 
.  .  .  mentions  that  the  arrangement  of  the 
rooms  was  different  from  any  that  she  had  seen 
before.  '  The  principal  drawing-room  was  large 
and  brilliantly  lighted,  and  opening  from  it  was 
a  suite  of  smaller  apartments,  some  lined  with 
paintings,  others  hung  with  silk,  and  illuminated 


MRS.    R.    C.    DERBY. 

From  the  miniature  by  Malbone  in  the  possession  of  the  Metropolitan  Museum  of  Art, 

New  York. 


MRS.    EDWARD    BLAKE. 
From  the  miniature  by  Malbone  in  the  possession  of  Miss  Julia  Robins,  Boston'. 


IN    THE    EARLY   REPUBLIC    417 

by  shade-lamps  and  lights  in  alabaster  vases, 
to  produce  the  effect  of  moonlight.  These  apart- 
ments terminated  in  a  boudoir  only  large  enough 
to  hold  two  or  three  people.  It  was  hung  with 
light  blue  silk  and  furnished  with  sofas  and  cur- 
tains of  the  same  hue.  It  also  contained  an  im- 
mense mirror,  placed  so  as  to  reflect  the  rest 
of  the  rooms.'  This  was  the  Boston  elegance 
of  1825."  1  And  then  there  follows  a  glowing 
description  of  the  charms  of  Miss  Emily  Mar- 
shall, "  who,"  Quincy  2  declares,  "  as  completely 
filled  the  ideal  of  the  lovely  and  the  feminine 

1  In  the  Boston  Directory  for  1825,  a  very  cosy  little  volume,  the 
addresses  of  some  of  the  people  mentioned  by  Mr.  Quincy  are  given 
as  follows:  Josiah  Marshall,  house  24  Franklin  Place;  R.  C.  Derby, 
27  Chestnut  street;    Daniel  Webster,    10  Summer  street.     Mrs. 
Blake  was  the  widow  of  Edward  Blake,  Jr.,  and  though  she  enter- 
tained in  her  beautiful  house  on  Bowdoin  Square  she  cannot  be 
found  in  the  Directory  for  that  year,  inasmuch  as  it  was  not  then 
the  custom  to  list  women  householders.    Mrs.  Blake's  maiden  name 
was  Sarah  Parkman.    She  was  born  October  17,  1775,  and  died  April 
10,  1847.    The  miniature  herewith  reproduced  is  by  Malbone  and 
has  often  been  pronounced  the  most  beautiful  he  ever  did.     It  is 
now  in  the  possession  of  the  subject's  grand-daughter. 

2  As  this  is  the  last  time  that  the  name  Josiah  Quincy  will  be 
mentioned  in  this  volume  it  may  be  well  here  to  distinguish  between 
the  various  worthies  thus  designated.     The  Josiah  Quincy  who 
visited  Charleston  before  the  Revolution  and  wrote  of  his  experiences 
there  was  born  in  Boston,  February  23,  1744  and  died  at  sea,  off 
Gloucester,  Mass.,  April  26,  1775,  a  victim  of  the  pulmonary  con- 
sumption to  relieve  which  his  Southern  trip  had  been  undertaken. 
His  son  was  the  president  of  Harvard  College,  and  one  of  the  first 
mayors  of  Boston.    His  son  (born  in  Boston  1802,  died  in  Quincy 
1882)  was  from  1845-49  mayor  of  Boston.    But  he  is  best  known  — 
this  third  Josiah  Quincy  —  as  "  member  of  the  class  of  1821,  Harvard 
College,"  and  author  of  Figures  of  the  Past. 


418  ROMANTIC   DAYS 

as  did  Webster  the  ideal  of  the  intellectual  and 
the  masculine.  .  .  .  Miss  Emily  Marshall,"  he 
insists,  "  was  simply  perfect  in  face  and  figure  — 
and  perfectly  charming  in  manners  as  well.  .  .  . 
On  the  seventh  of  February,  1823,  in  my  descrip- 
tion of  Mrs.  Blake's  party  come  the  words: 
*  Miss  Marshall  stood  unrivalled.  She  is  the 
most  beautiful  creature  I  ever  saw.'  At  Mathews's 
last  appearance  before  a  Boston  audience  (Jan- 
uary 28,  1823)  I  found  her  '  making  the  theatre 
beautiful  by  her  presence.'  Again  (it  is  the 
night  of  February  13,  the  year  following)  a 
house  in  Franklin  Street,  just  by  the  theatre, 
is  lighted  for  company,  and  Miss  Marshall 
receives  her  guests  with  such  infinite  grace 
of  manner  that  one  of  them,  at  least,  does  not 
rest  before  he  sets  down  his  admiration  in  black 
and  white.  .  .  .  With  her  no  struggle  for  social 
recognition  was  necessary.  She  simply  stood 
before  us  a  reversion  to  that  faultless  type  of 
structure  which  artists  have  imagined  in  the 
past  and  to  that  ideal  loveliness  of  feminine  dis- 
position which  poets  have  placed  in  the  mythical 
golden  age."  This  praise  seems  extravagant, 
but  when  it  is  added  that  workmen  went  with- 
out their  dinners  to  gaze  upon  Miss  Marshall's 
lovely  face,  that  audiences  at  the  theatre  rose 
when  sheentered,to  render  homage  to  her  beauty, 
and  that  William  Lloyd  Garrison  went  to  a 
church  presided  over  by  a  "  stand-pat  "  parson 


IN    THE    EARLY   REPUBLIC    419 

for  the  sake  of  feasting  surreptitiously  on  her 
sweet  countenance,  we  are  convinced  that  Quincy 
lied  not. 

Philip  Hone's  Diary  gives  us  the  promised 
glimpse  of  the  cordial  way  in  which  Boston 
entertained  a  visitor  from  New  York  in  these 
early  Republican  days.  On  September  8,  1828, 
he  writes,  "  After  breakfast  I  commenced  my 
Boston  rambles  and  saw  most  of  the  lions  of 
this  fine  city.  Mr.  Quincy,  the  Mayor,  took 
us  through  the  new  market-house,  which  is 
his  hobby,  and  well  worth  seeing.  The  length 
of  this  splendid  receptacle  of  beef,  poultry  and 
potatoes  is  five  hundred  and  thirty -six  feet, 
its  width  fifty  feet,  and  the  improvement  of 
the  vicinity  consequent  upon  its  erection  renders 
it  an  object  of  admiration.  We  visited  Faneuil 
Hall,  the  armory,  the  noble  art  museum,  its 
exhibition  room  (where  at  present  is  exhibited 
a  collection  of  Stuart's  portraits,  for  the  benefit 
of  his  family) ,  the  new  hotel  building  at  the  cor- 
ner of  Tremont  and  School  streets,  the  docks  etc. 
After  dinner,  Mr.  H.  G.  Otis  called  and  took 
me  out  to  Quincy  to  visit  the  President,  but 
we  found  that  he  had  departed  suddenly,  this 
afternoon,  for  Washington.  We  had,  however, 
a  pleasant  ride,  saw  the  Quincy  railroad  and 
quarry  of  granite,  and  returned  to  town  by 
way  of  Roxbury.  In  the  evening  I  went  for  a 
short  time  to  the  theatre  in  Tremont  street; 


420  ROMANTIC   DAYS 

a  handsome  theatre,  but  not  a  first-rate  com- 
pany." The  following  day  another  visit  was 
made  to  Quincy  for  the  sake  of  viewing  further 
the  railroad  and  the  quarry,  and  "  on  our  return, 
we  stopped  to  see  a  handsome  edifice  in  the 
village  of  ^  Quincy,  —  a  new  meeting-house  1 
nearly  finished.  It  is  a  beautiful  piece  of  archi- 
tecture, and  its  massive  columns  of  granite  are 
probably  the  best  specimens  of  that  fine  material 
which  have  yet  been  brought  into  use.  .  .  .  We 
took  tea  with  Mrs.  Quincy  and  returned  to 
Boston  in  the  evening." 

Sunday  morning  finds  this  visitor  at  St. 
Paul's  Church  listening  to  a  sermon  from  Alonzo 
Potter;  in  the  afternoon  he  takes  tea  "  at 
Colonel  Perkins's  at  Brookline  who  has  one 
of  the  finest  places  in  the  neighborhood;  his 
wall  fruit  and  grapery  are  justly  celebrated, 
and  are  now  in  great  perfection."  On  Tuesday 
Waltham  engages  Mr.  Hone's  attention.  There 
he  visits  the  "  celebrated  seat  and  ground  of 
Mr.  Lyman,  and  the  splendid  mansion  of  the 
late  Governor  Gore,  where  we  were  kindly  re- 
ceived and  entertained  by  Mrs.  Gore.  ...  I 
dined  at  General  Theodore  Lyman's,  who  lives 
in  very  handsome  style,  and  has  the  best  library 
I  have  seen  in  Boston.  Passed  the  evening  with 
a  party  at  Mrs.  Cunningham's.  This  lady,Vho 

1  It  is  here  that  both  John  Quincy  Adams  and  his  father  now  lie 
buried. 


IN    THE    EARLY   REPUBLIC    421 

is  lately  married,  is  the  daughter  of  Rufus 
Amory." 

Why  all  Boston  visitors  had  to  be  dragged  out 
to  Quincy  to  view  the  quarries  is  not  at  all 
clear.  Fanny  Kemble,  who  acted  at  the  first 
Tremont  Theatre  —  on  the  site  now  occupied 
by  Tremont  Temple  —  in  the  spring  of  1833 
started  on  this  expedition  of  pleasure  (?)  at 
six  in  the  morning  and  so  rode  twenty  miles  be- 
fore breakfast!  No  wonder  she  characterized 
the  feat  as  "a  piece  of  virtue  bordering  on 
heroism." 

Yet  she  had  her  reward.  "  For,"  she  says, 
"  the  country  we  rode  through  was  extremely 
pretty,  so  indeed  I  think  all  the  country  round 
Boston  is;  the  only  deficiency  is  water,  running 
water,  I  mean,  for  there  are  several  beautiful 
pools  in  its  vicinity,  and,  turn  which  way  you 
will,  the  silver  shield  of  the  sea  shining  against 
the  horizon  is  a  lovely  feature  of  the  landscape. 
But  there  are  no  rivulets,  no  brooks,  no  spark- 
ling, singing  water  courses  to  refresh  one's  senses 
as  one  rides  across  the  fields  and  through  the 
woodlands. 

"  But  for  the  climate,"  continues  this  charm- 
ing actress,  "  I  should  like  to  live  in  Boston  very 
much.  My  stay  here  has  been  delightful.  It 
is  in  itself  a  lovely  place,  and  the  country  round 
it  is  charming.  The  people  are  intellectual, 
and  have  been  most  abundantly  good  natured 


422  ROMANTIC    DAYS 

and  kind  to  me."  Among  the  houses  at  which 
the  Kembles  were  entertained  was  that  of  Dr. 
George  Parkman  who  was  murdered  by  Pro- 
fessor Webster  in  1849. 

Here1  Fanny  met  John  Quincy  Adams,  whose 
remarks  on  Shakespeare  made  her  greatly 
wonder.  The  matter  under  discussion  was 
Knowles's  "  Hunchback,"  of  which  the  former 
President  remarked  mildly  that  it  was  "  by 
no  means  as  good  as  Shakespeare." 

Miss  Kemble  records  that  she  "  looked  at 
the  man  in  amazement,  and  suggested  to  him 
that  Shakespeare  did  not  grow  upon  every  bush. 
Presently  Mr.  Adams  began  a  sentence  by 
assuring  me  that  he  was  a  worshipper  of  Shake- 
speare, and  ended  it  by  saying  that  Othello  was 
disgusting,  King  Lear  ludicrous,  and  Romeo 
and  Juliet  childish  nonsense;  whereat  I  swallowed 
half  a  pint  of  water  and  nearly  my  tumbler,  too, 
and  remained  silent  —  for  what  could  I  say? 

However,  in  spite  of  this,  I  owe  some 

gratitude,  for  he  brought  to  see  me  the 

other  day,  whose  face  is  more  like  that  of  a 
good  and  intellectual  man  than  almost  any  face 
I  ever  saw. 

"  The  climate  of  this  place  is  dreadful;  the 
night  before  last  the  weather  was  so  warm  that, 
with  my  window  open,  I  was  obliged  to  take 
half  the  clothes  off  my  bed;  last  night  was  so 

1  Dr.  Parkman  was  then  living  at  1  Cambridge  Street. 


IN    THE    EARLY   REPUBLIC    423 

cold  that,  with  window  shut,  and  additional 
covering,  I  could  scarce  get  to  sleep  for  the  cold. 
This  is  terrible,  and  forms  a  serious  drawback 
upon  the  various  attractions  of  Boston,  and  to 
me  it  has  many.  The  houses  are  like  English 
houses;  the  Common  is  like  Constitution  Hill; 
Beacon  street  is  like  a  bit  of  Park  lane,  and 
Summer  street,  now  that  the  chestnut  trees 
are  in  bloom,  is  perfectly  beautiful." 

The  excessive  modesty  which  caused  Boston, 
in  recent  years,  to  refuse  the  "  Bacchante  "  a 
place  in  the  courtyard  of  our  Public  Library 
seems  to  have  been  operative  at  this  era,  also. 
When  Power's  "  chanting  cherubs  "  were  ex- 
hibited it  was  found  necessary  to  drape  their 
loins  with  linen,  and  like  treatment  was  ac- 
corded to  an  orang-outang  which  visited  the 
city  about  the  same  time.1  Inasmuch,  however, 
as  Mrs.  Trollope 2  makes  repeated  allusions 
to  similar  prudery  in  other  cities,  Bostonians 
were  perhaps  not  so  very  singular  in  this  respect. 
"  I  once  mentioned  to  a  young  lady,"  this  chron- 
icler of  our  national  delinquencies  writes,  "  that 
I  thought  a  picnic  party  would  be  very  agree- 
able, and  that  I  would  propose  it  to  some  of 
our  friends.  She  agreed  that  it  would  be  de- 
lightful, but  she  added, '  I  fear  you  will  not  suc- 

1  McMaster's  History  of  the  United  States,  Vol.  VI,  p.  96. 

2  The  American  reprint  of  Domestic  Manners  of  the  Americans, 
put  out  in  New  York  in  1832,  insists  that  Captain  Basil  Hall  must 
have  written  this  book,  inasmuch  as  "  no  lady  "  could  have  done  it. 


424  ROMANTIC    DAYS 

ceed;  we  are  not  used  to  such  sort  of  things 
here,  and  I  know  it  is  considered  very  indelicate 
for  ladies  and  gentlemen  to  sit  down  together 
on  the  grass.' '  But  what  we  must  conclude,  of 
course,  is  that  this  feeling  was  as  little  typical  of 
America  as  was  the  conduct  of  the  woman  Mrs. 
Trollope  saw  in  a  New  York  theatre  adminis- 
tering natural  nutrition  to  her  child  between 
the  acts  of  a  "  thriller."  Some  of  her  criti- 
cisms were  well-founded,  however,  and  many 
of  her  observations  highly  amusing.  We  know 
that,  in  Boston,  the  cows  grazed  on  the  Common. 
Did  they  then  go  placidly  home  to  be  milked 
as  Mrs.  Trollope  tells  us  was  the  custom  in 
Cincinnati?  '  The  animals  there,"  she  says, 
"  are  fed  morning  and  evening  at  the  door  of 
the  house,  with  a  good  mess  of  Indian  corn 
boiled  with  water.  While  they  eat  they  are 
milked,  and  when  the  operation  is  completed 
the  milk-pail  and  meal-tub  retreat  into  the 
dwelling  leaving  the  republican  cow  to  walk 
away  to  take  her  pleasure  on  the  hills  or  in  the 
gutters  as  may  suit  her  fancy  best.  They  gener- 
ally return  very  regularly  to  give  and  take  the 
morning  and  evening  meal;  though  it  more  than 
once  happened  to  us,  before  we  were  supplied 
by  a  regular  milk  cart,  to  have  our  jug  sent 
home  empty  with  the  sad  news  that  '  the  cow 
was  not  come  home  and  it  is  too  late  to  look 
for  her  to  breakfast  now.'  Once,  I  remember, 


DANIEL    WEBSTER. 

From  the  portrait  by  Stuart  in  the  possession  of  George  Fred  Williams,  Dedham,  Massa- 
chusetts. 
Page  415. 


IN    THE    EARLY   REPUBLIC    425 

the  good  woman  told  us  that  she  had  over- 
slept herself,  and  that  the  cow  had  come  and 
gone  again,  '  not  liking,  I  expect  to  hanker 
about  for  nothing,  poor  thing.' '  Verily,  as  Mrs. 
Trollope  drolly  observes,  there  is  more  than 
one  way  of  keeping  a  cow. 

And  there  is  more  than  one  way  of  writing 
one's  impressions  of  life  in  a  foreign  country. 
Literature  would  be  much  the  poorer,  I  maintain, 
without  the  pages  in  which  Mrs.  Trollope  has 
embalmed  her  emotions  concerning  our  sins  of 
omission  and  commission  during  that  period 
of  her  visit.  For  it  is  precisely  because  she  be- 
came immensely  stirred  by  what  she  then  saw 
and  experienced  that  her  book  is  excellent 
reading  where  certain  other  volumes  —  Baron 
von  Raumer's,  for  example,  —  makes  one  ready 
for  a  long  winter's  nap.  And  Harriet  Marti- 
neau's  work,  though  altogether  praiseworthy 
from  the  point  of  view  of  accuracy,  is  often 
very,  very  dull. 

It  is  significant  to  note  that  —  different  as 
were  the  opinions  of  Mrs.  Trollope  and  Miss 
Martineau  about  most  American  customs  and 
institutions  —  they  quite  agreed  in  resenting 
the  political  and  social  subjection  of  women  in 
the  America  of  this  period.  We  have  had  so 
much  to  do  in  this  book  with  women  whose  social 
position  and  intellectual  gifts  were  of  the  high- 
est and  whose  associations  were  all  with  gentle- 


426  ROMANTIC   DAYS 

men,  that  it  is  difficult  to  credit  the  tales  of 
disrespect  for  womanhood  with  which  Mrs. 
Trollope's  pages  overflow.  Yet  it  is  very  likely 
true  that  in  the  West  —  particularly  on  the 
steamboats  1  —  she  actually  did  see  the  to- 
bacco-chewing, ever-hatted,  constantly-spitting 
men  of  whom  she  has  so  much  to  say.  And 
these  men,  naturally,  would  be  "  convinced 
to  the  very  centre  of  their  hearts  and  souls  that 
women  were  made  for  no  other  purpose  than  to 
fabricate  sweetmeats  and  gingerbread,  construct 
shirts,  darn  stockings  and  become  mothers  of 
possible  presidents." 

Yet,  she  continues,  should  the  women  of 
America  "  ever  discover  what  their  power 
might  be,  and  compare  it  with  what  it  now  is, 
much  improvement  might  be  hoped  for.  Now, 
even  in  Philadelphia,"  she  insists,  "  women 
who  are  among  the  handsomest,  the  wealthiest 
and  the  most  distinguished  in  the  land  have 
not  at  all  that  influence  in  society  which  such 
women  would  possess  in  England."  And  then 
she  proceeds  to  trace  with  delightful  humor 
a  typical  day  in  the  life  of  one  such  woman: 

*  This  lady  shall  be  the  wife  of  a  lawyer  in 
the  highest  repute  and  practice.  She  had  a 
very  handsome  house  with  white  marble  steps 

1  Miss  Martineau  declares  that  it  was  on  a  steamboat  coming 
back  from  Chicago,  that  she  first,  and  for  the  only  time  in  America, 
encountered  disregard  of  woman. 


IN    THE    EARLY   REPUBLIC    427 

and  doorposts,  and  a  delicate  silver  knocker 
and  door-handle.  She  had  very  handsome 
drawing-rooms  very  handsomely  furnished. 
There  is  a  sideboard  in  one  of  them  but  it  is 
very  handsome,  and  has  very  handsome  de- 
canters and  cut  glass  water  jugs  upon  it;  she 
has  a  very  handsome  carriage  and  a  very  hand- 
some free  black  coachman;  she  is  always  very 
handsomely  dressed;  and  moreover,  she  is  very 
handsome  herself. 

"  She  rises,  and  her  first  hour  is  spent  in 
the  scrupulously  nice  arrangement  of  her  dress; 
she  descends  to  her  parlour,  neat,  stiff  and 
silent;  her  breakfast  is  brought  in  by  her  free 
black  footman;  she  eats  her  fried  ham  and  her 
salt  fish,  and  drinks  her  coffee  in  silence,  while 
her  husband  reads  one  newspaper  and  puts  an- 
other under  his  elbow;  and  then  perhaps,  she 
washes  the  cups  and  saucers.  Her  carriage  is 
ordered  at  eleven ;  till  that  hour  she  is  employed 
in  the  pastry -room,  her  snow-white  apron  pro- 
tecting her  mouse-coloured  silk.  Twenty  min- 
utes before  her  carriage  should  appear  she  re- 
tires to  her  chamber,  as  she  calls  it,  shakes  and 
folds  up  her  still  snow-white  apron,  smooths 
her  rich  dress  and  with  nice  care  sets  on  her 
elegant  bonnet,  and  all  the  handsome  et  cetera; 
then  walks  down  stairs  just  at  the  moment  that 
her  free  black  coachman  announces  to  her  free 
black  footman  that  her  carriage  waits.  She 


428  ROMANTIC   DAYS 

steps  into  it  and  gives  the  word,  *  Drive  to  the 
Dorcas  Society.'  Her  footman  stays  at  home 
to  clean  the  knives,  but  her  coachman  can 
trust  his  horses  while  he  opens  the  carriage  door, 
and  his  lady  not  being  accustomed  to  a  hand 
or  an  arm,  gets  out  very  safely  without,  though 
one  of  her  own  is  occupied  by  her  work-basket, 
and  the  other  by  a  large  roll  of  all  those  in- 
describable matters  which  ladies  take  as  offerings 
to  Dorcas  Societies. 

"  She  enters  the  parlour  appropriated  for 
the  meeting,  and  finds  seven  other  ladies, 
very  like  herself,  and  takes  her  place  among 
them;  she  presents  her  contribution,  which  is 
accepted  with  a  gentle  circular  smile,  and  her 
parings  of  broadcloth,  her  ends  of  riband,  her 
gilt  paper  and  her  minikin  pins  are  added  to 
the  parings  of  broadcloth,  the  ends  of  riband, 
the  gilt  paper  and  the  minikin  pins  with  which 
the  table  is  already  covered;  she  also  produces 
from  her  basket  three  ready-made  pincushions, 
four  inkwipers,  seven  paper  matches,  and  a 
paste-board  watch-case;  these  are  welcomed 
with  acclamations  and  the  youngest  lady  present 
deposits  them  carefully  on  shelves,  amid  a 
prodigious  quantity  of  similar  articles.  She 
then  produces  her  thimble  and  asks  for  work; 
it  is  presented  to  her  and  the  eight  ladies  all 
stitch  together  for  some  hours.  Their  talk  is 
of  priests  and  of  missions,  of  the  profits  from 


IN   THE   EARLY   REPUBLIC    429 

the  last  sale  and  of  their  hopes  from  the  next; 
of  their  doubts  whether  young   Mr.   This   or 
young  Mr.  That  should  receive  the  fruits  of  it 
to  fit  him  out  for  Liberia;    of  the  very  ugly 
bonnet  seen  at  church   on   Sabbath  morning; 
of  the  handsome  preacher  who  performed  on 
Sabbath  afternoon,  and  of  the  very  large  col- 
lection made  on  Sabbath  evening.     This  lasts 
till  three  when  the  carriage  again  appears  and 
the   lady   and   her    basket    return   home;     she 
mounts   to   her   chamber,    carefully   sets   aside 
her    bonnet   and   its    appurtenances,    puts    on 
her   scalloped  black  silk  apron,  walks  into  the 
kitchen  to  see  that  all  is  right,  then  into  the  par- 
lour, where  having  cast  a  careful  glance  over  the 
table  prepared  for  dinner,  she  sits  down,  work 
in  hand,  to  await  her  spouse.    He  comes,  shakes 
hands  with  her,  spits  and  dines.    The  conversa- 
tion is  not  much  then  and  ten  minutes  suffice 
for  the  dinner;   fruit  and  toddy,  the  newspaper 
and   the   work-bag   succeed.     In   the  evening, 
the   gentleman,    being    a   savant,   goes   to   the 
Wistar   Society,    and    afterward   plays   a   snug 
rubber  at  a  neighbour's.     The  lady  receives  at 
tea  a  young  missionary  and  three  members  of 
the  Dorcas  Society.  —  And  so  ends  her  day." 
Yet  at  just  this  time  Fanny  Wright,  wearing 
bloomers,  was  vigorously  advocating,  from  the 
lecture-platform,  the  adoption  of  ideas  so  sub- 
versive of  manners,  morals  and  religion  that, 


430  ROMANTIC    DAYS 

even  today,  she  would  find  it  difficult  to  hire 
a  hall  in  some  American  cities.  None  the  less, 
in  Philadelphia,  Quaker  ladies  sat  on  the  plat- 
form during  her  lectures!  And  in  many  places 
"  Fanny  Wright  Societies  "  were  organized  and 
the  reforms  she  advocated  seriously  under- 
taken.1 Which  only  serves  to  prove  that  women 
stood  in  tremendous  need  of  the  better  education 
and  the  broader  opportunities  Harriet  Marti- 
neau  demanded  for  them. 

Quite  as  good  arguments  as  can  be  found  in 
any  of  our  feminist  papers  of  today  for 
bestowing  upon  women  the  right  of  suffrage 
are  presented  in  the  chapter  on  the  "  Political 
Non-Existence  of  Women  "  of  Miss  Martineau's 
thoughtful  book,  Society  in  America.  As  a 
public  woman,  who  herself  knew  thoroughly 
of  what  she  wrote,  this  author  quotes  with 
utter  scorn  Jefferson's  dictum,2  '  Were  our 
state  a  pure  democracy,  in  which  all  the  inhab- 
itants should  meet  together  to  transact  their 
business,  there  would  yet  be  excluded  from  their 
deliberations  (1)  Infants,  until  arrived  at  years 
of  discretion;  (2)  Slaves,  from  whom  the  un- 
fortunate state  of  things  with  us  takes  away  the 
rights  of  will  and  of  property;  and  (3)  Women, 
who  to  prevent  depravation  of  morals,  and  am- 

1  McMaster's  History  of  the  People  of  the  United  States,  Vol.  V, 
p.  99. 

2  Correspondence,  Vol.  IV,  p.  295. 


IN    THE    EARLY   REPUBLIC    431 

biguity  of  issue,  could  not  mix  promiscuously 
in  public  meetings  of  men."  The  italics  are  my 
own.  But  the  sentiment  was  Thomas  Jeffer- 
son's; and  the  first  writer  who  had  the  cleverness 
to  perceive  its  utter  sophistry  was  this  English- 
woman who  visited  Boston  late  in  1835.  The 
fact  that  she  made  the  journey  to  the  New 
England  capital  by  railroad,  as  well  as  the  fact 
that  she  found  considerable  response  in  Boston 
to  her  advanced  views,  reminds  me  that  we  have 
now  arrived  really  at  the  close  of  the  period  of 
the  "  early  "  Republic. 


THE   END. 


INDEX 


Adams,  Abigail,  42,  43,  44,  46, 

47,  48,  58,  82,  161,  166,  167. 
Adams,  John,  11,  81,  102,  161, 

167,  403,  420. 
Adams,  John  Quincy,  200,  201, 

202,  232,  236,  403,  420,  422. 
Adams,  Mrs.  John  Quincy,  201, 

202,  210. 
Adams,     Therese     Blennerhas- 

sett,  325. 
Allan,  John,  353. 
Alston,  Governor  Joseph,  315, 

321,  323,  326,  327,  330. 
Alston,  Joseph,  321,  322. 
Alston,    Theodosia    Burr,    313, 

314,  315,  316,  317,  318,  319, 

320,  321,  322,  323,  324,  325, 

326,  327,  328,  329,  330,  331, 

332,  333,  334,  335,  337. 
Amory,  Rufus,  421. 
Anderson,  Larz,  415. 
Andre,  Major,  1,  2,  3,  4,  8,  16, 

17,  19,  21. 
Arnold,  Benedict,  10,  11,  13,  14, 

15,  16,  17,  18,  19. 
Arnold,    Edward    Shippen,    17, 

19. 
Arnold,  Margaret  Shippen,  1,  2, 

10,  11,  12,  13,  14,  15,  16,  17, 

18. 

Astor,  Henry,  78. 
Astor,  John  Jacob,  78,  110,  132, 

133,  134,  135. 

Bache,  Sarah  Franklin,  58,  59, 

60. 

Bacon,  Edmund,  176. 
Balch,  Thomas,  14. 
Baltimore,  City  of,  243-290. 
Barker,  Jacob,  187. 
Barlow,  Joel,  188. 
Barrett.  George,  124. 


Barton,  Cora   Livingston,  394, 

395. 

Bayard,  Mrs.  John,  88. 
Bayard,  William,  132. 
Beauharnais,  Hortense  de,  198, 

258. 
Beaumarchais,  Pierre,  A.  C.  de, 

348,  349,  350,  351,  352. 
Beekman,  Mrs.  James,  87. 
Beekman,  John  K.,  132. 
Bernard,  John,  359,  360,  361. 
Biddle,  Mrs.  Nicholas,  280. 
Bingham,  William,  43,  44,  46. 
Bingham,  Mrs.  William,  43,  44, 

45,  46,  52,  53,  54,  55,  56,  57. 
Blair,  Frank,  225. 
Blair,  Rev.  J.  D.,  346,  347. 
Blake,  Edward,  Jr.,  417. 
Blennerhassett,    Harman,     324. 

325,  326. 
Bonaparte,    Jerome,    109,    257, 

258,  259,  262,  263,  264,  265, 

266,  267,  268,  270,  272,  273, 
274,  277,  280,  281,  321. 

Bonaparte,  Mrs.  Jerome,  189, 
190,  253,  257,  258,  259,  260, 
261,  262,  263,  264,  265,  266, 

267,  268,  269,  270,  271,  272, 
273,  274,  275,  276,  277,  278, 
279,  280,  281. 

Bonaparte,    Jerome    Napoleon, 

275. 

Bonaparte,  Joseph,  108,  109. 
Bonaparte,  Lucien,  267. 
Bonaparte,  Napoleon,  258,  267, 

271,  273,  274,  275,  276,  382. 
Booth,  Junius  Brutus,  129,  226. 
Borghese,  Pauline,  258. 
Boston,  City  of,  397-431. 
Bradford,  William,  119. 
Breck,  Samuel,  53,  56,  73,  74. 
Brewton,  Miles,  293. 


434 


INDEX 


Brissot  de  Warville,  1,  38,  73. 
Broglie,  Prince  de,  57,  58. 
Brooks,  John  Graham,  231. 
Bryant,    William    Cullen,    148, 

150,  151. 
Buchanan,   Rev.   J.,   346,    347, 

348,  353. 

Bull's  Head  Tavern,  123. 
Burd,  Major  Edward,  18. 
Burdick,  Benjamin  F.,  333,  334. 
Burnaby,  Rev.  William,  144. 
Burnes,  David,  156,  157. 
Burns,  Robert,  185,  287. 
Burr,  Aaron,  115,  116,  117,  118, 

119,  178,  314,  315,  316,  317, 

318,  320,  323,  324,  326,  327, 

328,  329,  330,  331,  333,  334, 

405. 

Burr,  Rev.  Thaddeus,  405. 
Burr,  Theodosia  Prevost,  314, 

317,  318,  320. 
Byrd,  Colonel,  338. 

Cable,  George  Washington,  391. 
Caldwell,  James  H.,  385. 
Calhoun,  John  C.,  205,  208,  219, 

343. 

Campan,  Madame,  197,  258. 
Carey,   Matthew,   148. 
Carroll,  Charles,  252,  282. 
Carroll,  Archbishop  John,  260, 

264,  277,  282. 
Carroll,  Daniel,  282. 
Casa  Yrujo,  Marquis  de,  52,  53. 
Castle  Garden,  144,  145. 
Charleston,  City  of,  291-337. 
Chase,  Hon.  Samuel,  263. 
Chastellux,  Marquis  de,  36,  37, 

367,  368,  370,  371,  372,  374, 

398. 
Chestnut    Street    Theatre,    22, 

23,  25. 

Chevalli<5,  Jean  Auguste,  348. 
Claiborne,  Governor,  381. 
Clarkson,  General,  100. 
Claxton,  Kate,  23. 
Clay,  Henry,  252,  343. 
Clinton,  De  Witt,  147,  197,  267. 
Clinton,  Sir  Henry,  4,  5,  16. 
Cobbett,  William,  155. 
Cochelet,  Mademoiselle,  258. 
Cockburn,  Admiral,  186,  188. 


Collins,  V.  Lansing,  314. 

Cone,  Spencer  H.,  23. 

Cooke,    George    Frederick,    24, 

25,  26,  148. 

Cooley,  Dr.  E.,  228,  229. 
Cooper,  Thomas  Apthorpe,  226. 
Cooper,  Priscilla,  124,  226. 
Cooper,  James  Fenimore,   147, 

148,  150,  151,  152. 
Cope,  Caleb,  4. 
Copley,  John  Singleton,  313. 
Count  Johannes,  124. 
Cox,  Sarah,  51. 
Craig,  James,  280. 
Craigie,  Mrs.  Andrew,  415. 
Crowninshield,   Mrs.   Benjamin 

W.,  193,  194,  195,  196. 
Cushman,  Charlotte,  124. 
Custis,  Eleanor  Parke,  48,  79, 

87,  365,  367. 
Custis,      George      Washington 

Parke,  49,  79. 
Cutler,  Dr.  Manasseh,  171,  176, 

226. 
Cutts,  Mrs.  Richard,  184,  188. 

Dallas,  Alexander  J.,  264. 
D'Avezac,  Jules,  393. 
Dawson,  Henry  B.,  122. 
Dayton,  Abram  C.,  124. 
Deas,  David,  292. 
Delmonico's,  144. 
D'Eon,  Chevalier,  349,  350,  351. 
Depeyster,  Robert  G.  L.,  187. 
Derby,  R.  C.,  416,  417. 
Dickens,  Asbury,  50. 
Dickens,  Charles,  150,  397. 
Didier,  Eugene  L.,  262. 
Donelson,  Mrs.  Emily,  220,  221, 

222. 

Drake,  James  Rodman,  151. 
Drake,     Mrs.    Stella    Edwards 

Pierpont,  333,  334. 
Drinker,  Elizabeth,  29,  34,  56. 
Duer,  Lady  Kitty,  87. 
Duff,  Ann,  124. 
Dunlap,  William,  128. 
Dunn,  Nathan,  32,  33. 
Durang,  Charles,  23,  286. 

Eaton,  Peggy  O'Neil,  217,  218, 
219,  220. 


INDEX 


435 


Edgeworth,  Honora  Sneyd,  2,  3, 

15. 

Edgeworth,  Maria,  2. 
Edgeworth,  Richard  Lovell,  2, 

15. 

Edwards,  Jonathan,  118. 
Ellet,  Elizabeth  Fries,  95,  182, 

375,  377. 
Ellicott,  Andrew,  159. 

Fenno,   Charles  Jones,   63,  64, 

68,  69,  70. 

Fesch,  Cardinal,  259,  277. 
Fly  Market,  74,  77,  78. 
Foote,  Rev.  William  Henry,  346. 
Forrest,  Edwin,  25,  26,  129. 
Foster,  Sir  Augustus,  175,  257. 
Francis,  Dr.  John  W.,  117,  129, 

147,  148. 
Franklin,  Benjamin,  58,  60,  61, 

95,  96,  97,  98,  102,  181,  348, 

351,  403,  407. 
Franks,  Rebecca,  7,  30. 
Frankland,  Sir  Harry,  404,  407. 
Fraser,  Charles,  300,  302,  309, 

311. 

Fraunces,  Samuel,  76,  78,  80. 
Fraunces'   Tavern,   74,  75,   77, 

110. 
Fulton,  Robert,  119,  141,  142. 

Gallatin,  Albert,  119. 
Gallego,  Joseph,  348. 
Garrison,  William  Lloyd,  418. 
Gayarre",  Charles,  332. 
Genet,  "  Citizen,"  197. 
Gladstone,  William  Ewart,  158. 
Goddard,  William,  243. 
Godfrey,  Thomas,  20. 
Godwin,  Parke,  117. 
Gore,  Governor,  420. 
Gratz,  Hyman,  64. 
Gratz,  Rebecca,  63,  64,  65,  66, 

67,  68,  69,  70,  71,  72. 
Graydon,  Alexander,  21,  29. 
Greene,  General  Nathanael,  15, 

88. 
Griswold,  Rufus  W.,  77. 

Hachard,  Madeleine,  380. 
Hall,  Captain  Basil,  423. 
Hallam,  Lewis,  20,  21,  22,  127. 


Halleck,  Fitz-Greene,  150. 
Hamilton,  Alexander,  81,   116, 

117,  119,  158,  159,  321,  324. 
Hamilton,  Mrs.  Alexander,  88. 
Hancock,  Dorothy  Quincy,  404, 

405,  406. 

Hancock,  John,  404,  405,  406. 
Hancock,  Mme.  Lydia,  405. 
Hart,  Mrs.  Tudor,  65,  69,  71. 
Hay,  Eliza  Monroe,  197,  198. 
Hayne,  Colonel,  294,  295,  296. 
Hazen,  Charles  Downer,  102. 
Henry,  Patrick,  338,  339. 
Heyward,  Thomas,  299. 
Hillegas,  Michael,  36. 
Hodgkinson,  Thomas,  146. 
Hoffman,  Matilda,  63,  64,  136, 

137,  139. 
Holladay,    Alexander    Quarles, 

335. 
Hone,  Philip,  117,  144,  398,  419, 

4^U. 
Howe,  Sir  William,  4,  5,  9,  11, 

29. 
Huger,    Francis    Kinloch,    304, 

305,  306. 

Humphreys,  Col.,  79. 
Huntington,  Daniel,  87. 

Irving,  Washington,  18,  63,  65, 
71,  72,  123,  136,  137,  139,  150, 
184,  185,  252,  341,  342,  365, 
378. 

Izard,  Ralph,  298,  307,  313. 

Izard,  Mrs.  Ralph,  87. 

Jackson,  Andrew,  146,  201,  210, 
211,  212,  213,  214,  215,  216, 
217,  218,  219,  220,  221,  222, 
223,  239,  240,  380,  381,  382, 
383,  384,  393,  394. 

Jackson,  Mrs.  Andrew,  213,  214. 
215,  216,  217,  218,  219. 

Jackson,  Elizabeth  Willing,  47. 

Jackson,  Major,  86. 

Jackson,  Stonewall,  377. 

Jay,  John,  82,  94,  96,  97,  98,  99, 

100,  152. 

Jay,  Mrs.  John,  82,  94,  95,  96, 

97,  98,  99,  100,  101. 
Jay,   Peter  Augustus,   99,    100, 

101,  102,  103. 


436 


INDEX 


Jefferson,  Joseph,  23,  306. 
Jefferson,  Thomas,  54,  55,  56, 

78, 157, 168, 169, 170, 171, 172, 

173,  174,  175,  176,  179,  180, 

181,  224,  339,  372,  373,  374, 

375,  430,  431. 
Jumel,  Madame,  110,  111,  112, 

113,  114,  115,  116,  117. 
Jumel  Mansion,  110,  112,  114, 

115. 
Jumel,  Stephen,  110,  111,  112, 

113,  114,  115. 
Junot,  Madame,  273. 

Kean,  Charles,  129. 
Kean,  Edmund,  26,  27. 
Kemble,  Charles,  27,  129,  251. 
Kemble,  Frances  Anne,  27,  130, 

251,  254,  398,  421,  422. 
Kennedy,  John  P.,  248,  256. 
Kent,  Duke  of,  88. 
Key,   Francis  Scott,   187,  284, 

285,  286. 

King,  Charles,  224. 
Knox,  General  Henry,  75,  362. 

Lafayette,  95, 144, 145, 146, 193, 

304,  305,  306,  355,  356,  407, 

413,   416. 
Lafayette,  George  Washington, 

356. 

L'Age,  Natalie,  319. 
Lamb,  Charles,  315. 
Langdon,  Gov.  John,  82,  401. 
Lassy,  Moreau  de,  393. 
Law,  Anne  Custis,  165. 
Lear,  Tobias,  81. 
Le  Camus,  Alexander,  265,  269, 

273. 

Lee,  Arthur,  351,  352. 
Lee,  General  Robert  E.,  377. 
Leland,  Elder,  170,  171,  172. 
L'Enfant,  Pierre  Charles,   157, 

159. 

Lewis,  Lawrence,  364,  365. 
Livingston,  Edward,  393,  394. 
Livingston,  Mrs.  Edward,  207, 

221,  392,  393,  394. 
Livingston,  Robert  R.,  141,  142, 

266. 

Livingston,  Mrs.  Robert  R.,  87. 
Livingston,  Mrs.  Walter,  87. 


Lome'nie,  Louis  Leonard  de,  349. 
Longfellow,  Henry  Wadsworth, 

407,  411,  412,  413,  414. 
Longfellow,  Stephen,  410,  412. 
Lyman,  General  Theodore,  420. 
Louis  Philippe,  107,  108,  356. 

Maclay,  William,  81,  82,  84,  85, 

149. 

Macready,  William  C.,  129,  226. 
Madison,  James,  158,  178,  181, 

183,  184,  185,  186,  187,  188, 

189,  192,  196. 

Madison,  Mrs.  James,  175,  176, 
177,  178,  179,  181,  182,  183, 

184,  185,  186,  187,  188,  189, 

190,  191,  192,  193,  194,  195, 
329. 

Malbone,  Edward  Greene,  65, 

417. 

Malibran,  Eugene,  130. 
Malibran,  Madame,  130. 
Marshall,    Chief    Justice,    326, 

342,  343. 

Marshall,  Emily,  417,  418. 
Marshall,  Josiah,  417. 
Martin,  Luther,  326. 
Martineau,    Harriet,    229,   231, 

232,  425,  426,  430. 
Mason,  George,  339. 
Mather,  Cotton,  148. 
Mathews,  Charles,  25,  129,  132. 
Mayo,  Colonel  John,  339,  340. 
McClenachen,  Blair,  57. 
McHenry,  Fort,  284,  285,  286. 
McHenry,  James,  363. 
Mclvers,  Mary,  86. 
McKean,  Chief  Justice,  53. 
McKean,  Sally,  47. 
McMaster,  John  Bach,  423,  430. 
Michelet,  Jules,  379. 
Monroe,  James,  196,  197,  198, 

307. 
Monroe,  Mrs.  James,  197,  198, 

199,  200,  201. 
Montagu,    Lord    Charles    Gre- 

ville,  292. 

Montgomery,  General,  3,  4. 
Moore,  Bishop,  100,  101. 
Moore,  Thomas,  179,  180. 
Morris,   Gouverneur,  |107,  108, 

163. 


INDEX 


437 


Morris,  Robert,  46,  56,  81. 
Morris,  Mrs.  Robert,  56,  57,  82, 

94. 

Morris,  Roger,  110. 
Moses,  Rachel  Gratz,  71. 
Moultrie,  General,  297,  310. 
Mount  Vernon,  89,  90,  360,  361, 

364,  367,  403. 
Murat,  Achille,  291. 

Newburyport,  City  of,  401,  402. 
New  Orleans,  City  of,  379-396. 
New  Rochelle,  155. 
New  York,  City  of,  73-155. 
Noailles,  Viscount  de,  46. 
Nuttall,  Thomas,  62. 

Orleans,  Duke  of,  88. 
Otis,  H.  G.,  419. 
Overman,  Anna,  337. 

Paine,  Thomas,  151,  152,  153, 

154, 155, 180. 

Pakenham,  Sir  Edward,  382. 
Parkman,  Dr.  George,  422. 
Parton,  James,  213,  314,  320. 
Patterson,  Robert,  253. 
Patterson,    William,    260,    261, 

263,  264,  266,  269,  271,  281. 
Paulding,  James  Kirke,  150. 
Payne,  John  Howard,  23,  151, 

187,  188. 

Peale,  Anna  C.,  223. 
Peale,  Charles  Wilson,  32. 
Penn,  Richard,  46,  56. 
Philadelphia,  City  of,  1-72. 
Philipse,  Mary,  110. 
Pidgin,  Charles  Felton,  328,  337. 
Pierce,  Anne  Longfellow,  411. 
Pinckney,       General       Charles 

Cotesworth,  301,  304,  307. 
Pitti  Palace,  281. 
Poe,  David,  23. 
Poe,  Edgar  Allan,  150,  286,  287, 

288,  289,  290,  352,  353,  354. 
Poe,  Elizabeth  Arnold,  22,  23. 
Poinsett,  Joel  Roberts,  308,  309. 
Pool,  Bettie  F.,  335. 
Pool,  Dr.  William  C.,  335,  336, 

337. 
Pope  Pius  VII,  276,  277,  282. 


Porter,  Sarah  Harvey,  233,  234, 

239. 
Portland,   407,   408,   411,   413, 

414. 

Portsmouth,  401. 
Potter,  Rev.  Alonzo,  420. 
Preston,  William  C.,  182,  183. 
Priest,  William,  31,  62. 

Quincy,  City  of,  402,  403,  404, 

405,  406,  420. 
Quincy,  President  Josiah,  203, 

417,  419. 
Quincy,  Josiah,  204,  205,  206, 

207,  208,  212,  395,  415,  417. 
Quincy,  Josiah  (on  Charleston), 

291,  292,  293,  307,  321,  417. 

Randel,  John,  154. 
Randolph,  Edmund,  153,  355. 
Randolph,  John,  354,  394. 
Randolph,     Martha    Jefferson, 

355. 

Randolph,  Peyton,  355. 
Randolph,  Thomas  Mann,  169, 

355. 

R6camier,  Madame,  258. 
Richmond,  City  of,  338-356. 
Robards,  Lewis,  215. 
Robespierre,  Maximilien  Isidore 

Frangois  Marie,  105. 
Rochefoucauld-Liancourt,  Duke 

de,  37,  54,  302,  356,  357. 
Rowson,  Susanna  Haswell,  120, 

121    122 
Royall,  Anne,  232, 233,  234, 235, 

236,  237,  238,  239,  240,  241. 
Rutherfurd,  Hon.  John,  102. 
Rutledge,  Chief  Justice,  299 . 

Saffel,  W.  T.  R.,  261,  271. 
Saxe-Weimar,    Duke    of,    384, 

385,  390. 

Scott,  Maria  Mayo,  340. 
Scott,  Sir  Walter,  63,  71. 
Scott,  General  Winfield,  340. 
Searle,  John,  132. 
Sears,  Lorenzo,  406. 
Seaton,  Mrs.  William  Winston, 

189,  190,  191,  192,  200,  226. 
Shakespeare  Tavern,  146. 
Shiel,  Richard  Lalor,  253. 


438 


INDEX 


Shippen,  Edward,  14,  28. 
Simpson,  Edmund,  128. 
Smith,  John  Cotton,  160. 
Smith,  Samuel  Harrison,  224. 
Smith,   Mrs.  Samuel  Harrison, 

172,  189,  192,  210,  229,  232. 
Souder,  Casper,  33. 
Southwark  Theatre,  20,  21,  22, 

23 

Spofford,  Ainsworth  R.,  242. 
Stael,  Madame  de,  280. 
"  Star  Spangled  Banner,"  284, 

286. 

Stewart,  Mrs.  Walter,  57. 
Stevens,  Col.  John,  142. 
Stoker,  Bram,  350. 
Story,  Judge,  203. 
Stuart,  Gilbert,  187. 
Sully,  Thomas,  65,  337. 
Surriage,  Agnes,  404. 

Talleyrand-Pe'rigord,  Charles 

Maurice  de,  54,  105,  106,  107, 

266,  280,  321. 

Talmadge,  Col.  Benjamin,  75. 
Tammany  Hall,  149,  150. 
Tarbell,  Ida,  240. 
Tayloe,  Colonel  John,  188. 
Temple,    Charlotte,    119,    120, 

121,  122. 
Thackeray,  William  Makepeace, 

375. 

Tillett,  Mrs.  Joseph,  336,  337. 
Todd,  John  Payne,  177. 
Tracy,  John,  402. 
Trinity  Church,  119,  121. 
Trist,  N.  P.,  223. 
Trollope,  Mrs.  Frances,  31,  222, 

244,  282,  284,  387,  389,  390, 

423,  424,  425,  426. 
Tudor,  Mrs.  William,  400. 

United  States  Gazette,  49. 
Upton,  Robert,  126. 

Van  Buren,  Martin,  219. 
Van  Cleef,  Augustus,  287. 
Vane,  Sir  Harry,  403. 
Van  Rensselaer,  Gratz,  72. 
Vergennes,  Count  de,  349,  350. 


Wadsworth,  General  Peleg,  408, 
410,  411. 

Walker,  Alexander,  382. 

Walnut  Street  Theatre,  25,  26. 

Wansey,  Henry,  48,  49,  103. 

Ward,  Maria,  354,  355. 

Wamer,  Charles  Dudley,  389. 

Warren,  Mercy,  88. 

Washington,  City  of,  156-242. 

Washington,  General  George, 
36,  40,  41,  46,  48,  49,  50,  75, 
77,  78,  79,  80,  81,  82,  83,  84, 

86,  90,  156,  159,  160,  299,  300, 
356,  359,  361,  362,  363,  364, 
365,  367,  370,  407. 

Washington,  Mrs.  Fanny,  89. 
Washington,  Lund,  89. 
Washington,    Martha,    48,    49, 
51,  57,  60,  79,  81,  82,  83,  85, 

87,  88,  89,  178,  265,  359,  365. 
Watson,  Elkanah,  143,  146. 
Watson,  J.  F.,  28. 

Wayne,  General,  9. 

Webster,  Daniel,  148,  205,  206, 

252,  415,  416. 
Weld,  Isaac,  51. 
West,  Benjamin,  29,  141. 
Wharton,  Anne  Hollingsworth, 

102. 

Wharton,  Joseph,  6. 
Wheaton,  Henry,  148. 
White,  Mrs.  Florida,  206,  207. 
White,  Richard  Grant,  104. 
Whitman,  Elizabeth,  188. 
Wilkea,  John,  351. 
Wilson,  James  Grant,  150. 
Wilson,   Rufus   Rockwell,    105, 

109. 

Willing,  Thomas,  43. 
Wilmer,  Delia  Tudor,  65. 
Wingate,  Judge,  90. 
Wistar,  Dr.  Caspar,  61,  62,  307. 
Wolcott,  Oliver,  163,  165,  363. 
Wollstonecraft,  Mary,  318,  320. 
Woodberry,     George     Edward, 

353 
Wright,  Fanny,  415,  429,  430. 

Young,  William,  63. 


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